Dr Nik Kotecha OBE
Pro-Chancellor
Dr Nik Kotecha OBE is Pro-Chancellor of 51Âþ», as well as an award-winning business leader, entrepreneur, philanthropist and influencer.
As a child Dr Kotecha arrived with his family in the UK as refugees, settling in Leicester. After receiving a local government grant, Dr Kotecha started his further education in Newcastle, where he earned a First Class Honours Degree in Chemistry. He then went on to do a PhD under the supervision of Professor Steve Ley at Imperial College in London, and further doctorate work at Cambridge University.
Dr Kotecha is the founder and Chairman of Morningside Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a Midlands-based manufacturer, wholesaler and exporter of branded and generic medicines and healthcare products to the UK and international export markets, which he established from a home garage in the 1990s and grew into a global business.
Since inception, Morningside has exported to over 120 countries and has over 240 generic and branded licensed medicines in the UK and EU. As well as products delivered twice daily to UK pharmacies and hospitals, Morningside supplies some of the world’s largest Aid agencies such as UNICEF, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Red Cross.
Nationally, Dr Kotecha devotes much of his time to public service and is a Department for International Trade (DIT) Export Champion, and also supports and advises a number of other central government departments, including the Cabinet Office, Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Office for Life Sciences (OLS).
Locally, he is a Midlands Engine Council and Health Board Member, Regional Councillor for the CBI, British Generic Manufacturers Association (BGMA) Board Member and also a Leicester & Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) Board Member. As part of his work with the LLEP he is Chairman of the Innovation Board.
Dr Kotecha has won numerous awards, including the National Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2019 National Business Awards, and in 2017, he was awarded an OBE for services to entrepreneurship, innovation in pharmaceutical services and philanthropy by HM Queen Elizabeth II.
Philanthropy is a particular passion for Dr Kotecha, and led to his establishing the Randal Charitable Foundation with his wife Moni in 2017. Its vision is to directly save lives, help the socially disadvantaged and significantly improve the quality of life for those in need in the UK and around the world with an ambition to save one million lives globally.