Boss of Corby woodworking firm crowned entrepreneur of the year

The boss of a Corby woodworking family business is celebrating after he was crowned entrepreneur of the year.

Amarjit Binji, who is the chief executive officer of AJB Group, won his title at the Nachural Entrepreneurship Awards 2022. Winners across the 21 categories were announced at a gala black-tie event held in Leicester on Friday, May 13.

Showing their full support for Amarjit on the night, he was joined by members of his family, friends, colleagues and his two sons, Aaron and Jai, aged 10 and 12, respectively.

The Nachural Group hosts a series of awards across popular UK cities throughout each year.

And it’s a second similar gong in just a few months for Amarjit. In March 2022 he was a proud recipient of the same title, entrepreneur of the year 2022, at the Midlands Business Awards.

Amarjit said: “It’s an absolute honour to win this prestigious award. It is further proof, I feel, of effective teamwork.

“It so happens that I’m at the helm of this business but its success so far is down to our fantastic workforce who are an integral part of the AJB Group extended family.”

The candidates were evaluated based on their entrepreneurial leadership, talent management, financial performance, societal impact, degree of difficulty in navigating and overcoming obstacles to make their companies successful, and originality, among other core contributions and attributes.

Amarjit was one of three finalists in the ‘entrepreneur of the year’ category. He was selected by an independent panel of judges for his ‘outstanding positive leadership’ coupled with a strong track record of commercial success.

Corby MP Tom Pursglove said: “A huge congratulations to Amarjit on his award, which is richly deserved. I was delighted to have visited AJB Group last month and to see first hand the ways in which the business has come on leaps and bounds in recent years. I have no doubt that the business will continue to drive on to even greater heights and I wish Amarjit and the team all the best – another huge Corby success story, of which we are rightly proud!”

Amarjit’s career began at the age of 12. He started out as a carpenter and joiner but, when he became frustrated with the lack of innovation and modern technique within his specialist field, he decided to set up his own company in 1999. AJB Group currently employs about 40 staff, including his brother Mandeep, sister Kully and best friend of over 35 years, Hitesh, who work as operations director, HR director and project manager, respectively. Darren Moore, factory manager, is the longest-serving employee. He has been with the business for 23 years.

AJB Group is a manufacturer of joinery products manufacturing timber windows, external and interior solid joinery doors and frames. It began in a 13,500 square feet factory in Leicester’s Oadby Industrial Estate. In 2015, the business relocated to a 40,000 sq ft state-of-the-art factory in Corby.