The creator of the Ramsey brand, Remzi Gur’s epic journey started in a small sweat shop factory. Today, “Ramsey” branches can be found in numerous countries throughout the world. Apart from being a close friend of the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Gur is well known personality within the Turkish community in Britain. A resident of London over the past four decades, one can bump into him almost anywhere: weddings, meetings, mosques, and sometimes, even in the street. He is married. He and his wife have two daughters and a son, and a grandchild, too.
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Since the 13th century, Gur is one of only three Turkish individuals to have been honoured with the “Freeman” title, an honour bestowed upon the likes of Princess Diana and Nelson Mandela. The other two Turkish luminaries who were honoured with this famous title were the Ottoman Sultan Abdulaziz, and businessman, Kazim Akkus.
Remzi Gur is the General Director of the Gurmen Group comprising 120 franchises and 18 outlets in Turkey and 36 outlets world-wide, where his own brand of menswear products are sold. Sixty-five thousand jackets and trousers are manufactured every month in his clothing factories located in Kastamonu and Karabuk, employing over 1200 employees.
For the past two years Remzi Gur has been serving as Chairman of the Turkish British Chamber of Commerce and Industry, an organisation which has around 300 members.
Can you briefly tell us about the size and the type of services provided by TBCCI?
The TBCCI was established in 1980 with the aim of assisting companies doing business between the UK and Turkey. Since those days, bilateral trade between the two countries has reached 6 billion pounds and the TBCCI has certainly had its part to play in it.
In addition to furthering trade, other services we provide include legalisation of documents, translation and interpretation services, organisation of events and trade missions, market research, internship and job opportunities, and stamping of A.TR and EUR1 forms.
What does it mean to be the Chairman of TBCCI?
TBCCI is an important organisation. We have a large number of Turkish and British member companies involved in trade between Turkey and Britain. I daresay some of these companies are extremely large and important. We have a sense of duty toward our members. We are very much aware of our responsibilities.
I suppose being the Chairman of TBCCI requires an exceptional awareness of one’s obligations and that is why I always try to execute my responsibilities to the best of my skill and ability.
You are now into your third year as Chairman of TBCCI. How would you appraise the last three years?
Recently, we celebrated the 26th anniversary of the establishment of the TBCCI. At the Annual General Meeting held last December I was elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors for a second term. At that Annual General Meeting various decisions were taken which, in due course, will lead to radical changes in the management of the Chamber.
Previously, the elections were held on an annual basis, a fact which impacted negatively on the serving management. In my opinion, this resulted in unnecessary inefficiency over a three to four month period leading up to the elections. But from now on, the elections will be held every other year. Furthermore, we have amended a constitutional clause which stated: “The number of members serving on the Board of Management shall rise in proportion to the total number of members of the Chamber”. There is no doubt in my mind that the presence of a large number of Board members impeded the effective running of the Chamber. With this amendment, therefore, we were able to reduce the number of Board members from 44 to 21.
Yet another significant amendment was to limit the Chairmanship of the Board of Management to a maximum of two terms. In passing through these amendments we have tried to put together a team capable of not only working together in a fast and efficient manner, but also embodying the concept of involving the wider membership in the decision making process.
Also, we have totally revamped our Chamber’s web site. Amongst our other achievements is our initiation of bi-lateral meetings between our members and Turkish ministers and bureaucrats.
We have set up within the Chamber various professional groups based upon their prospective sectors in order to discover not just the problems and difficulties experienced by, but also the specific needs and requirements of businessmen operating both in Turkey and Britain. Last but not least, but which I deem as very important, we took the unusual decision to organise one of our Board meetings of 2005, in Turkey. This allowed unprecedented opportunities for many of our members who attended a reception given by the British Consul-General, Barbara Hay, which was attended by the British Ambassador, Sir Peter Westmacott, the British Deputy Consul-General of Istanbul, Peter Cook, and the Turkish Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr. Ali Coskun.
What kind of TBCCI are we likely to see at the end of your term?
Well, I would very much hope that by the time we reach the end of our term in office we will have completed our objectives. To begin with, we would very much like to hold events at our premises at the Chamber – indeed we are currently working toward this. What we would really like to see, however, is to make our Chamber become the heart and soul of trade between Turkey and Britain. In other words, whilst we hope to stage more events at our own premises we wish to play a central role in promoting trade between Turkey and Britain. In effect, we wish to seize the moment, increase the membership and run TBCCI as efficiently and smoothly as possible.
What kind of role does TBCCI play in business and commercial relations between Turkey and Britain?
With almost 300 registered members, the TBCCI has a very wide range of sectors represented among the membership. Therefore, we are able to answer any enquiry which may come from any firm or individual who wants to do business between Turkey and the UK. Our events provide the perfect opportunity for members to network and find prospective customers.
What are your hobbies?
I am interested in calligraphy. I have an extensive collection.
Are you considering entering politics?
No, I am not. I am a businessman and I wish to continue living my life as a businessman.
How often do you travel to Turkey in the course of a year?
I travel to Turkey between 20 to 25 times a year according to the requirements of our work in the two countries.
As a businessman what advice can you give to budding entrepreneurs?
My advice to young people, first and foremost, is to never lose sight of the goals you set – especially if you believe in them! In life, we must set goals, then work diligently and with discipline to achieve them – it is my unalterable belief that hard work and effort will ultimately lead to success.
Thank you.
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