PETER VIRDEE: The Complete Singh
It is not just rare, but close to impossible, to come across a man who achieves mastery in business with such royal taste of living and tops it with a compassionate heart of a giver, all while being intricately connected to the almighty. With passion written all over him and an enigmatic, powerful aura, Peter Virdee is an embodiment of what we would call a Complete Singh & a true Sikh.
A businessman and philanthropist who dons many caps with perfection and a vision, Peter is the founding partner of B&S Property that handles assets worth over £4 Billion globally and has diversified into renewable energy with PV Energy, as well as minerals trading with 3VI Ltd. He is the first Sikh to be a board member of the English National Opera, and is also on the board of philanthropy for Coutts & Co. Being a visiting professor at Manchester University and on the advisory board for Nottingham Business School, he is the one to follow his heart. However, the biggest buzz for him is his charity work with The Virdee Foundation, which is in-turn, associated with a number of causes worldwide.
Apart from all his accolades, he is a man of immaculate style with a taste for all luxuries and finesse that life has to offer; where he did share some of his collectors items with us. Team SnK, caught up with Peter Virdee and spent an entire day with him to get a glimpse of what it is like to ‘Live life king size.’ From his spiritual mornings, fitness mantras, working and personal lifestyle, and recreational activities, we bring to you an inspirational insight into Peter’s mind…
Growing Up
If I would ask the 15-year-old Peter, what does he want to do or become in life. How ambitious would the answer be back then?
When our families first came to the UK, we came as immigrants. The only aspiration they had, like many other Indians, was to earn enough money and go back to India. So growing up, there wasn’t much aspiration at all from what we knew about and what we had seen.
When I was growing up, we were told and taught, “Education, education, education – Education is power! It is the one thing that no one can take from you,” but at the time I was not so much into education, I was more like the entertainer of the class – my job was to make everyone laugh. So it goes without saying, I was a naughty child while growing up.
I remember once on parents evening, my head master said to my father, “He would be very lucky if he becomes a road-sweeper.” Naturally, my father took this as a great disappointment and took it very personally then, as he was an established businessman within his own right. A week later I actually asked my career’s teacher, “What does a road sweeper get paid?” She was surprised at my question and I think even more shocked that I was even remotely considering the job (laughs) and said, “Look, completely erase that thought from your mind, there are far better opportunities for you to grab in life!” Anyways, life went on and my aspirations started kicking in at a later stage. So growing up, I was a regular, everyday guy, just having a good laugh and enjoying life as it came.
Growing up in school, I was very tall for my class and the teachers decided to make me look more prefect, and me being who I was back in the day, I was always one to impress! I remember buying everything new – new pair of trousers, shoes, shirts everything because I had to be perfect now. Once that happened, I was given a lot of responsibilities and my role started to change. As I started to develop my character and image, it began to have a more personal effect on my life. So you see, personal development definitely makes a difference in ones life where it starts to impact your thoughts and actions, that’s when I decided if I wanted to move on to 6th Form or if I wanted to leave. So knowing it was the same head master who thought the peak of my career was being a road sweeper, he came and said “I would like you to stay for the 6th Form,” that’s when I said to myself, “no chance I’m still staying here… I’m leaving! I’m out of here!” So off I went… Picked a college in central Birmingham and had the time of my life.
Aspiration and ambition really kicked in when I was in college. That’s when you really open up to the real world because you start interacting with new people, developing new friendships and trying new experiences. College definitely gave me the opportunity to enjoy different experiences and gain real insight and knowledge into the real world. You know when you’re young, you just follow what your parents ask you to do. Either you’ll be a doctor, accountant or engineer or you’re kind of brainwashed into becoming one those typical roles. But I knew that wasn’t for me – I was always one to think outside the box. I had to stand out from the rest, be different from the usual stereotypes and make a difference.
Is there anything that stays with you till date that your parents said in those years that motivates you?
I had always seen my parent’s work hard, so just to watch them work and succeed was always a joy for me. It inspired me a lot and motivated me – it gave me the drive I needed to develop my goals and aspirations. To see them work hard and get rewarded, gave me self-confidence, a great sense of responsibility and the willpower to believe anything is possible in life. With hard work comes great reward but without dedication, drive and tenacity – it’s not achievable, and that’s what my parents instilled in me.
Did you always get what you wanted?
I have to say we were very lucky and blessed, by the grace of God we always had what we needed.
Do you think that sometimes makes children a bit late to realize their ambitions?
There is a big difference between “needs” and “wants”. If one is getting more than their needs, then yes – you lose sight of your ambitions. But our parents always made sure we never got excess of anything – that was always firm in our family, and for the right reasons. So it wasn’t about having 6 pairs of trainers – maybe just 2. Thus, we always got what we really needed, but not necessarily all that we wanted, which I’m sure is the case for all youngsters – ones ‘wish list’ never ends (laughs).