Farouq Sheikh OBE
Trustee, Chair of Remuneration Committee
Farouq Sheikh OBE is one of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs, philanthropists and community figureheads. His business interests encompass healthcare, private equity and property investment and development.
Farouq, with his brother Haroon, are best known as co-founders of CareTech Holdings Ltd, a leading national provider of specialist care services to adults and children with learning disabilities, physical disabilities or mental health problems in the UK and the middle east. Founded as a single care home in 1993, Caretech has grown substantially, currently supporting around 5,000 adults and children with a wide range of complex needs in more than 550 schools, residential services, hospitals and day centres. CareTech employs more than 11,000 staff in the UK and internationally and has an emerging presence in digital technologies.
After initiating the successful equity investment in CareTech, Farouq and Haroon oversaw the subsequent exits of 3i Group PLC (in 1996 and 2002) and Barclays Private Equity (in 2002 and 2005) and successfully listed on AIM in 2005. Most recently, Farouq and his brother led a consortium to buy back CareTech in a deal valued at £1.1billion.
His other business interests include the Sheikh Holdings Group, which was created in 2011 to provide the next generation of the Sheikh family a platform for investments with a focus on real estate, private equity and other opportunities in healthcare, most recently Ruh Dental.
Farouq has been presented with a number of Entrepreneur of the Year awards by prestigious organisations including Laing and Buisson, Coutts Bank and Ernst & Young. He also presents widely at healthcare conferences, raising awareness of the learning disability sector. As Patron and Enterprise Fellow of the prestigious Prince’s Trust and as a member of the Mosaic National Advisory Board, Farouq supports young people by passing on his experience and expertise to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Farouq received an OBE for services to specialist care in The Queen’s Birthday Honours 2020.
Along with his family, Farouq established the COSARAF Charitable Foundation. The charity, supports vital projects throughout the world alleviating hunger and distress as well as advancing education for less privileged children in developing countries and championing community based projects in the UK and abroad.
