Sultan Choudhury - Islamic Bank of Britain

The Islamic Bank of Britain is the first stand-alone, Sharia compliant, retail bank in the UK to be authorised by the Financial Services Authority

The Islamic Bank of Britain offers Sharia’a compliant retail banking products and services, using modern management systems and up-to-date information technology and delivery channels. It aims to ensure that customers receive excellent service, with Islamic financial services which are competitive with those provided by conventional banks. It was established in September 2004 as the UK’s first FSA (Financial Services Authority) approved Islamic bank, and the first standalone Islamic retail bank in the Western world.

Sultan Choudhury is the bank’s Commercial Director.

When we thought about where to locate our commercial retail bank, Birmingham offered a complete package including a vibrant financial services sector; a multi-lingual and multi-cultural workforce; fabulous transport links and competitive commercial property prices. Once the decision was made, we became a part of the burgeoning professional and financial services sector that the city boasts, and we were able to take advantage of the fabulous support networks within it. Reassuringly, that support has been ongoing and wasn’t just there to get us here in the first place. Indeed, as we’ve grown the fact that we’re a part of a wider financial services community has been important in terms of being able to tap in to the workforce that is consequently available within the city. In banking it is very important to have scale and cost efficiencies and so a good back office function is vital – the plentiful workforce and property available here has made this possible for us. We have a number of investors in the Gulf region and with improved links from Birmingham International Airport, we’ve been able to build relationships with these investors without having to use other UK airports. On a personal level, I love living in Birmingham and feel that it is still a well kept secret, offering beautiful parks, good restaurants and the canal network. If anything, part of the nature of Birmingham is that it doesn’t shout loud enough about what it has to offer.