Issa brother Mohsin chats buying the first service station in Rivington and their rise to wealth
One half of the billionaire Issa brothers has revealed how they made their fortune.
Mohsin, 53, and Zuber, 52, from Blackburn are well-known for making their fortune in petrol stations and featuring in the Sunday Times Rich List many times.
They founded EG Group (initially called Euro Garages) in 2001, expanding it from a single petrol station in Bury, Greater Manchester, rising up the ranks to acquire Asda from Walmart in February 2021.
Currently, their fortune stands at over £5bn - but where did it all begin?
Insider Media reported that EG Group co-founder and Asda co-owner Mohsin Issa CBE appeared at the International Trade Awards and offered up some pearls of wisdom.
He said that in 2009 they acquired their first motorway services at Rivington and once again turned around the image and experience. This success led to plans to rollout globally.
.jpg?trim=0,0,0,0&width=640&quality=65)
He said: "Me and Zuber had borrowed a bit of money from friends and family to buy our first garage at Rivington and we quickly learned we needed to spend money on it too.
"Back in 2001 garages were pretty dirty, just a kiosk where you might get a Mars bar and a can of coke.
“We wanted to clean it up and found it did really well. We built it and customers came, so we went on a journey of doing the same again, one by one."
EG Group succeeded in the US where even supermarket giants couldn’t quite gain traction.
He told those wanting to venture out into a business that everyone makes mistakes, but ‘don’t ever be afraid of making mistakes and having a go’.
He said: “It’s about picking yourself up, having a go again and not making the same mistakes."