Northumbria
University alumnus Muhammad Uzair has won a prestigious international British
Council award for business innovation in his home country of Pakistan.
The Mass
Communication and Business graduate claimed The
Entrepreneurial Award in the Study UK
Alumni Awards 2018 for Pakistan. As
the co-founder of Peshawar-based business Blimp, Muhammad has impressed the
judges by growing the enterprise into the region’s fastest growing digital
marketing agency. The company provides web development, content and PR, and
graphic design services for small and medium sized enterprises across Pakistan.
Mahammad, who graduated from Northumbria in 2011, has also cofounded a social
enterprise called Peshawar 2.0, and a co-working space named Basecamp, to help
other entrepreneurs and start-ups.
The British Council
is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational
opportunities. Its Study UK Alumni Awards celebrate UK higher education and the achievements of UK alumni all over the
world. Now in its fourth year, the
award received more than 1,700 applications from international UK alumni in a
record 123 countries, representing more than 140 UK higher education
institutions across the UK.
In
Pakistan, as elsewhere, individuals from across the country were recognised for
their outstanding achievements as business professionals, entrepreneurs and
community leaders, and for their contribution to strengthening collaborative
ties with the UK. Twelve finalists in three categories were selected from more
than 150 applicants across Pakistan.
Muhammad
said:“I always had an interest in information and communication
technology from my school days, and was introduced to coding in seventh grade
by my computer science teacher. From that day, I continued learning and
exploring different aspects of ICT. At the same time, I had a growing interest
in marketing. I was able to connect the dots early on, and started using ICT as
a marketing tool for non-profit organisations run by family and friends. This
included developing websites and using Social Media for fund raising. Education
in the UK helped me build further on my experience, and Northumbria offered the
perfect course and learning opportunity for me. After working in a social media
agency in Leeds, I moved back to Pakistan with a vision to establish a Digital
Marketing Agency in my hometown of Peshawar.
“At
Blimp, we use technology to do good. An example of this is how we used it to
bring 150 students and 22 teachers online to create virtual classrooms using
Google for Education when schools were forced to close down after the deadly
terrorist attack on a school in the city in December 2015.”
Rosemary Hilhorst, Country
Director at the British Council in Pakistan, added: “The remarkable
individuals selected as finalists for the Study UK Alumni Awards in Pakistan
have all taken their UK education as a starting point to excel in their chosen
careers and shape the world
around them. This year’s finalists are testimony not only to the
diversity of UK alumni and their endeavours, but also to the transformative
impact of a UK education”.
The British
Council Study UK Alumni Awards have three categories, including Professional
Achievement, Entrepreneurial Award and the Social Impact Award.
To read more about this year’s inspirational finalists, please click
here https://www.britishcouncil.pk/alumni-awards-2017-18.
For more
information on Northumbria please visit www.northumbria.ac.uk
