Ajith started in business in Sri Lanka reconditioning abandoned fridges. He moved to the UK at the age of 15, speaking no English and learned it from watching Newsnight and reading editorials of The Times newspaper. He later gained a place at Birmingham University to study economics. He opened the first Latin American- themed Las Iguanas, with a £10k bank loan in 1991 pretending it was to buy a car. It became a well-known restaurant chain around the UK. He sold it in 2015 for £80m. In 2010 he co-founded Turtle Bay - the casual dining Caribbean restaurant aimed at the mainstream market. Again, this has experienced huge growth and employs thousands of staff across 42 venues. Ajith is also an investor and mentor and his specialties are: business expansion, marketing, people development, operational excellence, and raising finance.
Former Guest Speaker Ajith Jayawickrema
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