Top Gift
Hamid Shazhad
I’m a qualified lawyer – I studied law at the University of Peshawar in Pakistan, then came to the UK to do a master’s at the University of Aberdeen. But when I graduated, I was only offered unpaid internships with no guarantee of a job. Six months without pay – how can you survive on this? It broke my heart.
I moved to Lewisham, and one day I was walking down the street and found a display cabinet that someone was throwing away. I took it home, called the shopping centre and said: “I want to start a business.” I didn’t have a clue what kind of business I wanted to start, but I came up with ladies’ fashion. This was in late 2008. On my first day, I made £7 in sales. The first six months were very hard – I was in survival mode.
But gradually, I grew my business. I hired people. I opened a second stall in Chatham, then another in Woolwich, Elephant and Castle, Victoria…
In 2012, I saw that mobile phone accessories were a growing market – and decided to switch. I registered a company called Top Gift. We now have 180 branches across the UK. Sometimes when I sit here, I remember the old days, what a struggle life was – I was hopeless, alone. But if you have a passion and you want to do something, you can do it.
Image: Elzbieta Piekacz
