The business of belonging

November 08, 2026For Saleem Akhtar, a British-Pakistani entrepreneur, the name Jinnah is more than a signboard outside his restaurant. It is a tribute to the man who gave millions of Pakistanis an identity and a homeland — and a reminder of the roots he has carried with him since leaving Pakistan as a 10-year-old boy.

Now a successful businessman in Bradford, UK, Akhtar has woven his admiration for Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah into his business identity, even choosing to have the founder’s name on his car number plates. His connection with Pakistan, however, goes beyond symbolism.

Through his restaurant business, charitable initiatives and advocacy for investment in ancestral communities, Akhtar believes overseas Pakistanis can turn their attachment to the homeland into something tangible. The journey began in 1981, when his family established a small shop in Bradford.

What started as a modest business venture gradually evolved into the Jinnah restaurant group, bringing Pakistani and Kashmiri cuisine to customers across Yorkshire. A major milestone came in 2015, when more than £500,000 was reportedly invested in establishing a restaurant at the historic Gate House building on Leeds Road in Bradford.

The project also created 32 jobs, marking a significant step in the family's business expansion. For Akhtar, naming the business after Pakistan's founder was a deliberate choice rather than a commercial branding exercise. “Muhammad Ali Jinnah occupies a central place in the history of the subcontinent.

As the leader of the Pakistan Movement and the founder of Pakistan, he became a symbol of political determination, national self-respect and the aspiration for a separate homeland,” he says.

The name, he believes, keeps Jinnah's legacy visible in a multicultural British city while providing younger generations of British Pakistanis with an opportunity to learn about the history of their parents' homeland. His admiration for the Quaid also finds expression in an unusual personal gesture.

Akhtar says he uses only cars bearing Jinnah number plates as a way of expressing gratitude to the founder of Pakistan. “Travelling in a car with a Jinnah number plate gives me immense pleasure,” he says.

“Had I lived in the era of Jinnah Sahib, I would have loved to be his driver.”But while the name Jinnah adorns his business and vehicles, Akhtar's efforts to maintain links with Pakistan have also taken a more practical form.

Through the restaurant group, he has helped introduce Kashmiri and Pakistani cuisine to British customers, bringing traditional South Asian flavours into a setting where people from different cultural backgrounds can experience the region's food and hospitality. For expatriate communities, food remains one of the strongest links with home.

Traditional dishes preserve memories of family gatherings, regional traditions and cultural identity, particularly for younger generations born and raised thousands of miles away from their parents' ancestral towns. Such establishments also serve a wider economic purpose by creating employment, supporting local commercial activity and providing spaces where communities interact.

Akhtar's association with Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), meanwhile, extends to humanitarian work. Through his foundation, under his leadership, efforts have been made to assist vulnerable families and communities affected by natural disasters.

Following the devastating 2005 earthquake in AJK, Akhtar distributed Rs10 million in cash among deserving people in Muzaffarabad and Bagh to help those struggling in the aftermath of the disaster. The foundation also undertook a project to construct 20 houses for families affected by the September 2019 earthquake in Mirpur.

For communities recovering from natural disasters, such assistance can offer more than immediate financial relief. It also reflects solidarity from expatriates who, despite living abroad, continue to maintain social and emotional connections with their ancestral homeland.

Akhtar believes this relationship should be strengthened through greater economic engagement, particularly investment in ancestral towns and villages. He argues that overseas Pakistanis can help preserve their children's connection with their roots by establishing businesses and supporting economic opportunities in the areas from which their families originally migrated.

“Although I am far away from Pakistan, I remain one of the greatest admirers of Pakistan and Quaid-e-Azam,” says Akhtar. He believes that Pakistanis living in Britain should consider investing in their ancestral areas, saying even modest investments could help create lasting links between overseas families and their communities back home.

“This way they can preserve their connection with their homeland for future generations,” explains Akhtar.

“The investment could give younger family members a practical reason to visit their ancestral towns, engage with local communities and develop a deeper understanding of their family history.”Bradford, home to a longstanding Pakistani community, has witnessed generations of migrants establish businesses and contribute to Britain's economic and social life while retaining their cultural heritage.

For families such as Akhtar's, the challenge is to ensure that this connection survives across generations. Children growing up in Britain may identify strongly with their country of birth, but exposure to their parents' language, traditions, history and communities back home can help them remain connected with Pakistan.

Akhtar's journey brings together several strands of the overseas Pakistani experience — entrepreneurial ambition, cultural preservation, philanthropy and an enduring attachment to the country of origin. His story also raises a broader question about the meaning of patriotism among expatriates.

Beyond flags, national-day celebrations and declarations of affection, attachment to a homeland can find expression in creating jobs, conducting business responsibly, helping vulnerable communities and investing in local development. For Akhtar, Jinnah is not simply a name to be displayed on a restaurant or a vehicle.

It represents the history, identity and opportunities that came with the creation of Pakistan — a legacy he hopes younger generations will understand and carry forward. His message is simple -- distance from Pakistan need not mean distance from its people, history or heritage.

The connection can endure through enterprise, investment and meaningful contributions to the communities left behind. Pages. Pakistan.

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