AHAMMED, the founder of Malabar Gold and Diamonds, had a modest beginning. He was born on 1 Nov. 1957 to Mammad Kutty Hajee and Fathima in a village near Koyilandy in the northern Kerala district of Kozhikode. Ahammed is married to Subaida K.P, and they have two children — Shamlal Ahammed and Soujath Asher. Shamlal is the managing director of International Operations of Malabar Gold and Diamonds. Asher O, son-in-law, is the managing director of India Operations of Malabar Gold and Diamonds.

At the age of 17, Ahammed started his first business venture of agro products. Later in 1981, at 24, he ventured into spices and copra business. On Sept. 17 1993, the 36-year-old was advised to try his luck in gold. Ahammed, who has studied till high school, took the plunge with the support of friends and relatives. “We were basically farmers and my father was a farmer. We moved to Calicut to venture into business after the poor state of the agricultural sector. I started with the Rs.5 million that I had earned from my business and opened the first Malabar Gold & Diamonds showroom at Calicut,” Ahammed said.

Ahammed, a visionary business leader, with the full backing of a team of enterprising entrepreneurs, explored beyond his immediate circle in the agri-corp industry to establish a jewelry trading company in the historical city of Calicut. Since then, keeping alive the golden spirit of the Brand, the group has remained constant, in its successful forays nurtured by expertise, vision and guidance, into a formidable business conglomerate.

At that time, unfair trade practices were rampant. “I started my business with the motto of transparency. We were one of the first in the industry to introduce 100 percent BIS hallmarked jewelry,” he recalled. A savvy marketer, Ahammed roped in global branding agency Brand Union to create a distinct corporate image in the highly competitive overseas market.

In the next decade, Malabar Gold saw a slow and steady expansion, and gradually became one of the most trusted gold jewelry brands in the world. Malabar Gold opened their first showroom outside Kerala on 12 April 2005 in Bangalore. Malabar Gold was rebranded as Malabar Gold & Diamonds in 2012. In the same year, Malabar Group of Companies announced an expansion plan for Malabar Gold and Diamonds.

Ahammed told Saudi Gazette that his success mantra is honesty, trustworthiness and fulfilling commitments toward fellow investors and the customers as well. “Since childhood I was keen to achieve maximum perfection in any profession that I was doing. My concern was how to do business in the best possible manner with upholding honesty and trust in a way more useful to others and giving jobs to maximum number of people. I am very vigilant to maintain 100 percent honesty and commitment to our investors as I am handling their money,” said Ahammed. “We are keen not weaken our trust as it is the edifice. We instill full confidence in customers who trust us and we are with them with full guarantee. We ensure quality and after sales service as they invest huge amount and so that we are bound to protect their rights. We provide our customers special gold purchase schemes and advance bookings to facilitate buying as prices are rising,” he added.