Charity supporter and IT chief, Ashok J Rabheru, has been awarded a CVO (Commander of the Victorian Order) in the New Year Honours List.
Ashok was given the prestigious award in recognition of his work for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. He served as a Trustee of the DofE from 2000 until December 2010 and was a prominent member of the steering group for planning and raising funds for the 50th anniversary of the DofE in 2006.
Ashok said, “I am flattered to receive this personal award. I am constantly humbled by the efforts that so many volunteers put in to enable the DofE Award (www.DofE.org) to function and grow. It has been a privilege to participate and I have enjoyed myself immensely. This honour may be undeserved, but is greatly appreciated”.
Although Ashok has retired as a Trustee he will continue to work as Chairman of the Joint Funding Board in relation to both the UK and International aspects of the DofE.
He also sits on the Advisory Board of the DofE International Award Special Projects chaired by HRH The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.
Mr Rabheru is an active supporter of several other charities including Combat Stress (www.combatstress.org.uk) and DebRA (www.debra.org.uk). He is also closely involved in working with the Asian community.
The Wiltshire-based adventurer, David Hempleman-Adams, a Trustee of the DofE, commented that Mr Rabheru was a deserved recipient of the special honour.
Mr Hempleman-Adams said, "A Commander of the Victorian Order is a personal gift from the Queen and therefore a uniquely special honour. Ashok and his family should be deservedly proud.”
"This is a wonderful recognition for someone who, for many years, has put in an immense amount of time and effort as a Trustee of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.”
"Ashok's personal story is a true inspiration. He came to this country as a young boy with very little and has gone on to give so much back to young people in the UK."
Mr Rabheru was born in Morogoro, Tanzania in 1952 and emigrated to the UK at the age of 15. He gained a B Sc at the University College London followed by an M Phil in Applied Mathematics at The Royal Holloway College and a Post Graduate Diploma in Computing at London University.
Ashok is married to Harshida and they are parents to triplets: Rishi, Shayan and Nikita.
He started his career in the IT industry and went on to found the Genisys Group in 1985. Since its modest beginnings, as a small five-person company, it has grown considerably and now has offices in three continents and employs over 2,200 staff. Ashok accompanied Tony Blair on two business delegations; one to Bangalore in 2002 and, in 2005, to Beijing and New Delhi, at the EU-China and the EU-India Summits.
Ashok Rabheru started his entrepreneurial life by creating an award-winning franchise of Computerland. He then went on to start the first company in the Genisys Group, Genisys Enterprise, which is a leading UK reseller for HP, IBM, Cisco and Microsoft and other leading IT manufacturers. An extensive services arm has been built up to complement the reseller activity.
10 years later, Ashok Rabheru started Genisys Software. This company offers software and Business Process Outsourcing services and operates from the UK Head Office in Basingstoke, as well as from offices in the United States and Bangalore, India. This business has been very successful and has involved a major building programme in Bangalore, in India, to keep up with demand.
The latest addition to the group is our IT Consulting company, Genisys Consulting, which was created in 2006. Genisys Consulting complements the rest of the group by providing expertise in the IT life-cycle from feasibility studies through to the production of design specifications.
Ever since the creation of Genisys, Ashok Rabheru has taken a leading role in the day-to-day running of the business and has surrounded himself with capable and talented senior managers. His administrative, communication and personnel development skills are at the forefront of his leadership. The ability to embrace new technologies and provide a highly customer focused approach whilst meeting the needs of its clients justify the exceptionally high regard in which suppliers and customers have held the Genisys Group for so many years. As he says, “Our primary goal is to create customer experiences that inspire recommendation. That is the one sure way of building a sustainable business.”
