Zuber On the Move again

Zuber Issa isn’t heading for the exit any time soon. Instead, the Blackburn billionaire is embarking on the next stage of his remarkable business journey and is travelling at speed.

With his new venture EG On The Move, this time he’s doing it all with the benefit of lessons learned in almost three decades spent building an impressive business
empire with his brother Mohsin.

The siblings, whose parents moved to Lancashire from Gujarat in India, in the 1970s, went their separate ways in 2024 after growing Euro Garages, the company their family originally founded in 2001, before transforming it into the global retail giant EG Group.

And while that business is now looking across the Atlantic to its American future, Zuber decided to go in a different direction, with his roots still firmly in Lancashire.

The 53-year-old launched EG On The Move after acquiring EG Group’s remaining petrol forecourt division in the UK for a consideration of £228m in 2024. At the same time, he stepped down as EG Group’s co-chief executive, while retaining a 25 per cent equity stake.

His new venture has grown at pace. In February, Zuber announced the acquisition of another 260 sites in France from EG. They join 160 petrol forecourt sites and 210 foodservice concessions already operated by EG On The Move across the UK from its Blackburn base.

Sitting in a spacious office in the company’s Waterside headquarters, with impressive views of the nearby hills, Zuber explains why he has set off on his new adventure and why he takes pride in the fact that its home is in Lancashire.

Putting it simply, he wasn’t prepared to walk away when EG Group’s private equity partner TDR Capital decided that it was time to call it a day and make its way to the exit door.

Zuber says: “When you build a business from scratch, it is very hard to let go – especially when you have established it from nothing.

“It was a hard decision but the shareholders wanted an exit. We said that as much as you want that, we want to stay, so let’s find a mutual solution and this is when the idea of EG On The Move started to take form.

“Some of the leadership team decided to join me and were equally enthused to go on a growth journey again. So, we took 30 North West sites from the group. We know the area, it is where we live, and we know the people working in them.”

Zuber is quick to admit he didn’t fully understand what private equity was all about when TDR made its entrance and, in hindsight, may have gone for growth
using a different route.

At the time of the deal, which saw TDR take 50 per cent of the business in 2015, EG was looking to expand internationally and was finding it difficult to break through.

TDR already had forecourt operations in Europe, offering that first gateway to global expansion. Its arrival primed large-scale growth with more than 6,000 site operations across ten international markets in Europe, North America and Australia.

However, Zuber says: “If someone had come to me and said, ‘Do you really understand what you are doing here?’ I think the answer would have been ‘no, not really’.

“My advice to anyone going into partnership with PE is to ask themselves if they really know what they are getting themselves into. There will come a day when the PE house will want to exit and sell the entrepreneur’s ‘baby’.

And the founders won’t have any control over that, because that is what you are signing up to.

“I’ve spoken to a few people who have asked my advice and have had an offer from PE. I say that they need to be sure what they really want in the next five years. Do they still want to have their business or do they want to retire?

“As a business person, when you are at this kind of juncture, you need to really think and understand the long-term implications of PE, which we unfortunately never did.

“You need to ask yourself: Do you keep what you have and build on that under your own control, or do you explode into the world with the firepower and experience of private equity behind you?

“I think if we had known that if you ‘explode’, in five years’ time you won’t be able to keep control of something you have created, I would have opted to stay in the lane with 100 per cent control and built on it over the years.

“That’s a lesson learned. And, also, if it is a family business, it can’t remain that when you have sold 50 per cent or a majority to private equity.”

Today Zuber is enjoying life in his new fast lane.

He says: “You have to enjoy what you do. We have built a good business and we have a lot of good people around us.

“The job gets easier as well. The first time we were guessing a lot and learning as we were going along. This time we know what we need to do and how to do it as well. We are in a much better place and a stronger position, I would say.

“It’s a business that we understand. It is so easy to be tempted to try and go elsewhere and do other things. However, I firmly believe you should stick to what you know.

“When you look at November 2024, when we separated from the EG Group, and where we are today, we are a business with over £1bn turnover already. We are £65m-£70m EBITDA.”

He reveals that to date he has used his own cash to fuel growth, investing nearly half-a-billion pounds back into the business in a strong statement of intent.

For decades the headlines were all about ‘the Blackburn billionaire brothers’ and
their joint enterprises, including, for a time, ownership of the Asda supermarket group with TDR. So how does it feel now he’s steering this new ship solo?

He says: “If you ask me honestly, when we started the business, did we ever think we would get to where we did with it, the answer would be ‘never’.

"As siblings, we’ve done a lot of things together and, as you evolve and get older, I think you just reflect and we’ve both asked ourselves what is our end game now? Where do we want to be in five years?

“It was amicable for my brother Mohsin and me. Each of us has gone our different ways. Mohsin is doing different things and I’m doing different things. We meet, we talk, everything is okay.

“When you are growing a business to the scale that we did with EG Group and you’ve got someone who knows how you think and how you react, that is really helpful. There are only 11 months between us as brothers, so you can see there is that bond.

“We’ve done a lot of good things together and created a lot, including the building we are sitting in. We’ve created high value jobs here and we’ve invested hundreds of millions of pounds into Lancashire and the North West, which is something we are both proud of.”

Looking back on that original business journey, he recalls how the brothers developed a traditional petrol station business into a convenience retail destination, creating the concept that is now common across the country.

He says: “We had a good business. We had a lot of forecourt petrol stations in the UK. As we grew, we started asking ourselves, what’s changing out there?

“And we quickly understood the convenience market was growing. People were on the move and didn’t have time on their hands. They were looking for ‘top-up’ shopping.

“So, we gave them that opportunity and then asked what else people on the move
were looking for. And it became clear they wanted convenient locations to access
foodservice for breakfast, lunch and in the evening. Places like Subway, Burger King and Greggs were in the high street and shopping malls, but not on the roadside.

“We started working with these leading foodservice brands. We were the first petrol forecourt operator to integrate the Subway concession into a petrol station, the first to open Greggs, and we were also the first to own, build and operate a Starbucks drive-thru in the UK.

“We quickly created a destination feel. It was not just about fuel, it was about convenience – your groceries, your food, your coffee.

"It was just about attracting people to spend time on site. That was our success.”

There have been other investments alongside their core petrol forecourt business interest.

The family’s Monte Blackburn development arm is behind the Frontier Park concept. These multi-million pound, self-funded speculative industrial and logistics developments are attracting investment into Lancashire and creating valuable local jobs.

The first Frontier Park project, situated off the Whitebirk Roundabout on the edge of Blackburn, was a £100m development. Frontier Park Burnley represents another £60m spent by the Issas. Planning is in for a third in Preston.

Outside Lancashire, there is also a Frontier Park development in Banbury, Oxfordshire.

Proud of his native county, Zuber says businesses are attracted here by the wealth
of talent that exists. He explains: “We look to invest in the right businesses in the right places, and there is no better place than Lancashire to do business.

“We’re born and bred in Blackburn and we are very fortunate to have this office and other business interests here.”

Looking out at the view from the office, he adds, “When people come from the south I ask them where will they find views like this? Our county is so beautiful and picturesque. The people, the communities, the creativity, the connectivity. We are so fortunate.”

He and his brother, raised in a terraced house in Blackburn, also believe in putting something back into the community. In January, Masjid E Vali opened on the former site of Westholme Junior School in the town.

Funded by the Issa Foundation, a charity established by the brothers, the modern mosque and community facility has been named in memory of their late father, Vali Issa.

Zuber, a father-of-four, says: “The development has turned out beautifully. I was praying last night in the mosque, and as I was walking back home, it looked stunning in the evening, serving as a gateway beacon into Blackburn.

“It is something my father wanted to build and we have done so in his memory. We are fortunate that we are able to give something back to the community.”

Zuber adds: “My dad came to the UK in 1968 to work in the textile sector. My grandad told him and my uncle that he needed to send one of them abroad so they could earn money to send back to the family in India.

“He said, ‘There is an opportunity but I’ve only got enough money to send one of you’. So, it was like a toss of a coin and fortunately it was my dad who ended up being an economic migrant and settling here in the UK.

“Our parents’ goal was to better their and their children’s lives and to send some money back home, so family there could better their lives as well. They had to work so hard, up to 18 hours a day, seven days a week.

“I was speaking to my mum the other day, and I asked how much money she brought with her to the United Kingdom. She said, ‘If I’m notmistaken, it was less than £2’.

“You can see from their humble beginnings and hard work, we have been blessed with what we have today, and how their grounding gave us the opportunities we have been able to realise.

“The challenge now is, how do we share the same motivations and encouragement with the next generation, so they can work really hard to preserve and build on what we have established and pass it on to the generation after them.

“It’s about having the right motivation, commitment and work ethic. I keep saying to the young people, don’t look at what you have, just remember where you come from and absorb this energy to drive productive change in your personal and professional lives. You should never ever forget your roots."