Icons of Influence Naresh Kumar Bhawnani Founder and Chairman, West Zone Group Naresh Kumar Bhawnani, the founder and chairman of West Zone Group, launched his first supermarket in 2005 in Mirdif, Dubai. Over the past two decades, the West Zone Group has expanded into various sectors including logistics, shopping malls, real estate, construction, technology, hospitality, and food and beverage across the UAE. Supermarkets and hypermarket remain the cornerstone of the group’s operations, with over 100 outlets spread across more than 500,000 square feet of retail space. Bhawnani oversees a workforce of more than 5,000 employees. The group’s acquisition of the Safestway supermarket chain, along with three Giant branches and one G-Mart from Giant Group, further solidified its market presence. The company, apart from operating hypermarkets, malls, hotels, food and beverage outlets, has divisions in building contracting, real estate, and fashion. With locations nationwide, West Zone Fresh is a household name, providing over 500 products, including its own brands alongside local and global names in groceries, confectionery, and more. Bhawnani has ambitious plans for global expansion. In the coming years, the group aims to extend its presence further across the GCC and beyond. You might also like Sunil John Dr. Thumbay Moideen Vidya Chhabria Mohan Valrani K. Rajaram Dr. Adnan Chilwan Sanjiv Kakkar Ram Kumar Thota Raghu Malhotra Sunil Kaushal Atif Rahman Amit Jain Rishi Kapoor Vasu Shroff Anil Pillai Bal Krishen Rohit and Sharad Bachani Raju Ramesh and Sunil Paul Ayesha Depala John Paul Joy Alukkas Geet Bhalla and Digvijay Pratap Snehal and Sunita Hadani Nisha Jagtiani Kunal Kapoor Dino Varkey Ashish Panjabi Joy Alukkas Yogesh Mehta Yusuff Ali M.A. Ravi Pillai Micky Jagtiani Sunny Varkey Sunil Vaswani Shamsheer Vayalil Firoz Merchant Rajen Kilachand Azad Moopen Tony Jashanmal Paras Shahdadpuri Dr. Zulekha Daud Adeeb Ahamed Dhananjay Datar Rizwan Sajan PNC Menon Sima Ved Shaji Ul Mulk Ramesh Prabhakar L.T. Pagarani Ram Buxani Surender Kandhari Sohan Roy Shyam Bhatia