The immigrants living the ‘British dream’: As Nigerian-born Kemi Badenoch becomes first black woman to lead the Tories, the inspiring success stories of those who came to UK from abroad with hopes of a life of opportunity

Kemi Badenoch has spoken of being a product of the ‘British dream’ after going from a child growing up in Nigeria to the head of the Conservative Party. 

The 44-year-old was born in a private maternity hospital in Wimbledon before spending her childhood in Nigeria.  When the country’s economy collapsed in the 1990s, she returned to London – working at McDonald’s to pay for college. 

While her story is remarkable, it is far from unique, with thousands up and down the country enjoying flourishing lives after arriving in Britain from abroad – often as children. 

Below, MailOnline reveals some of their inspiring personal stories, from a former pupil at Ms Badenoch’s school who also came to the UK and became a successful businesswoman, to a former child refugee from Sri Lanka who now owns a string of health clinics – 

‘I went to the same school in Nigeria as Kemi Badenoch – Britain is full of opportunities’ 

A Nigerian-born business owner who attended school with Kemi Badenoch says they are both proof of the opportunities available in the UK. 

Mariam Olayinka moved to England in 2008 while studying for a Masters degree in Business Management Information Technology at the University of Greenwich.

The 45-year-old has gone on to thrive in the country and now owns her own nursery, Bubbly Gems, in Sunderland.

She was also nominated for the Sunderland Business of the Year Award 2024.

The business owner, who attended a girls school in Nigeria with Kemi Badenoch, said their stories are proof the UK is ‘full of opportunities’. 

‘I recognised her when she became a high-up Conservative politician!’ she said. 

‘Kemi is also a success story. It encourages people who come here that they shouldn’t give up on their dreams and they have to keep trying.

‘I would say that I am a success story but I am also a work in progress. I am now trying to build my business.’

After graduating from her Masters, Mariam worked as a cleaner, an Amazon driver and a teacher before deciding she wanted to be a child-minder.

She moved to Sunderland in 2020, the same year she became a British citizen.

‘I wanted to study in the UK as I wanted something different from Nigeria,’ she said. 

‘When I came here I found it to be much more organised and more stable than in Nigeria.

‘There were a lot of jobs available in the UK and there was more opportunity here. Everyone was on the same level and had the same access, whether they were rich or poor.

‘You have to be passionate about what you do and focus on how you are going to impact society as well as yourself. 

‘I was a foster mum before starting my business – you have to think about the community and giving back to society.’

‘I fled to the UK as a refugee from Sri Lanka aged 10 – now I run a string of dermatology clinics’

Thuva Amuthan moved to the UK with his single mother in 2001, aged just ten, to escape the war in Sri Lanka.

He recalls the biggest challenge being the language barrier – as he had little understanding of English.

But despite the first challenges growing up, the 33-year-old is now a GP and dermatology doctor running his own practice called Dr Derme.

Dr Derme is now a successful business with a string of clinics in the West Midlands – including Birmingham, Solihull and Wimbledon.

And adding to his portfolio, he has also had numerous leadership roles in the NHS along the way.

He said: ‘I started from nothing and having this is obviously a luxury, right? It is really something I could never imagine I would ever be able to achieve so I am very grateful for everything I have.

‘Most of all it is about what I can do to help others do the same or better really because I got more than I could ever want so I couldn’t want more, really.’

Dr Amuthan remembers ‘having no life’ in Sri Lanka – as they were living day by day.

‘We were on the road with a bag full of basics. There was no life there. It was the middle of the war,’ he said. 

Moving to south London with his mother was a ‘weird’ feeling for Dr Amuthan – but he quickly adapted to the country and the language.

‘I am always a flexible person. I figured things out very quickly and my English got better rapidly,’ he said. 

‘Yes it was weird having to make new friends but Sri Lanka isn’t as multicultural as Britain is. You come here and see the different people around you and it is very different.’

Despite the language barrier, Dr Amuthan realised he was academically gifted, winning a place at a grammar school before studying medicine at Barts and The London School of Medicine.

Even though he started as a GP, he went on to realise that he wanted to pursue dermatology.

‘As soon as I finished I ended up working in community dermatology to NHS patients,’ he said. 

‘I got better and better and over time I decided that was what I wanted to focus on – to be able to offer affordable private care dermatology for everyone rather than just the elite.’

Dr Amuthan describes the UK ‘is the place to go’ in Europe for those who want to become successful.

‘Even on an international stage we are looking at America, UK, Canada or Australia – those are really the options to go if you want to be successful,’ he added. 

‘I guess the UK is a comfortable place for people to go because of the British Empire cause everyone has some ties because of that.

‘If you think about the ethnic minorities – especially the Asian background – a lot of them come to the UK because they have either relatives here or they are familiar with the environment that is why they seek to come here.’

‘I moved to the UK when I was six years old and didn’t speak a word of English – now I own an award-winning restaurant’

Karim Ullah, 51, first moved to the UK at the age of six in 1979 – without being able to communicate in English.

Describing the move to East London as a ‘real shock’, Karim, his mother and two sisters left their small village in Bangladesh to join their father who was already working in England.

But despite the first challenges growing up in a western country, Mr Ullah is now the owner of a thriving restaurant in Essex – which has received a number of awards since its opening in 2020.

Mr Ullah says that the UK has given him ‘immense opportunities’ which allowed him to thrive as a business owner.

‘I feel very grateful for the most wonderful people I have met in this country who have helped me build my business,’ he said.  ‘I feel very grateful for the opportunity to live in this country.’

Moving from a ‘very sleepy village’ without electricity and water to one of the busiest cities in the world was a ‘huge shock’ for Mr Ullah.

‘We lived very close to a busy road. Where I was born you could not see tall buildings – only green landscapes,’ he said. 

‘It was all rather strange but luckily where we did move it had quite a big Bangladeshi population – it allowed the climatisation to happen much better.

‘It was very hard at school but luckily there were loads of Bangladeshi children and they were so good at translating to me – they were my little heroes.

‘The food I found was so difficult to eat. In Bangladesh we ate everything fresh because we didn’t have fridges.’

Aged 34, he created his first business in the print media – which failed after the financial crash in 2008.

But thanks to his determination to get back to the world of business, he and his wife set up Brohmon – a restaurant offering rustic Baengali Food from India and Bangladesh.

‘I was frustrated with the quality of Indian food as it is not that good and saw a great opportunity to open a business,’ he said. 

‘I worked 10 years in hospitality and when I left I said I would never come back. But when he saw the opportunity to open the business I saw a way to come back.

‘My wife would do 70 per cent of the cooking. We opened the restaurant without a chef but we knew we could cook well for our family and we were doing pop ups before opening in 2020.’

In 2022 they won the best restaurant in Essex at the British Restaurant Awards which was a ‘big achievement’ for them.

For four years they have won the TripAdvisor Travellers Choice Award – based on reviews they receive over a year.

Mr Ullah says he feels ‘very grateful’ for the opportunities in this country.

He added: ‘I think the UK is a great place for business. I failed at the first business and I lost a lot of money but I was able to bounce back.

‘We are very lucky in this country. We have an ecosystem where we are allowed to fail so that we can actually start something again. We should be more optimistic with the UK. We have so many positive things.’

‘You can become a success in the UK if you’re willing to work hard’  

An award-winning chef believes immigrants can achieve massive success in the UK if they are willing to work hard.

Indian-born Guarav Dayal moved to England in 2011 on a skilled workers visa and has since opened three restaurants and scooped a number of accolades.

The 39-year-old father chose to come to the UK because he believed it was a land of opportunity and knew his children would have access to excellent healthcare and education.

Dayal has thrived during his time in the country. After opening his chain of restaurants, My Delhi, he was crowned Regional Chef of the Year and National Chef of the Year 2022 at the Asian Restaurant and Takeaway Awards (ARTA).

The cook also battled against four of the nation’s top eateries to win the title of the best Indian on BBC Two’s Britain’s Top Takeaways.

He also scooped the Nation’s Best Street Food Restaurant of the Year at the prestigious Nation’s Curry Awards in 2023.

Dayal, who secured British citizenship in 2017, says the UK is somewhere that immigrants can succeed if they put their mind to it.

He said: ‘You have to work hard to be successful. People have short term goals but you need to look at the end goal. If you work hard, you will succeed in this country.

‘Anyone who complains that they are not successful in this country is not working hard for it and blaming other people for their shortcomings.

‘The country is full of growth. Those who come here on skilled workers visas have exceptional skills. But you need to work and exhibit those exceptional skills.

‘As long as you are skilled, this country will welcome you and success is yours.’

‘We feel better protected in the UK than we did in France’ 

French-Algerian Amine Chaouche who came to the UK for better opportunities – and now runs an award-winning chippy.

The father-of-three says he and his wife, who works in the pharmaceutical industry, have had a better life in London than they did previously in France. 

‘I came to the UK in 2011,’ Mr Chaouche said. ‘It was difficult at the start, with the language. I learned English at school but the accents were completely different.

‘I struggled a little bit to understand people when they were talking with me. I listened a lot to the radio to make myself familiar with the accents.’

Mr Chaouche, whose restaurant Stones Fish & Chips in Acton, west London, was the only chippy in the capital to make the Fry Awards’ Top 50 in the UK last year, says the keys to success are no different from natives as they are from immigrants.

The 43-year-old added that he, his wife, and his three children – eight, five and two years old – all enjoy living in the UK.

He said: ‘I think to succeed you need to make efforts, but it’s the same principle for everyone – for people who always lived here or came from abroad.

‘Work hard, save money, live below your means and take risks with some of your savings in a field you are happy to work in.

‘I think it’s the same for people coming from abroad as for people from here. Try to save money, live below your means and invest.’

Mr Chaouche said he feels safer as a minority in the UK, compared to when his family lived in France.

‘I like living in London,’ he continued. ‘We have the feeling that we are better protected as a minority from the state.

‘I didn’t have that in Europe. In France, we didn’t have that feeling of being protected by the authorities.

‘Everybody is in the same boat here, regarding the law. I had a different feeling in France.

‘My wife was born and raised in France. She has a very good job. 

‘She says she would never have the same opportunities if she was living in France. There, competence is not the only criteria.’