Alan Malik
As an inaugural backer of the City of Culture campaign and a true collaborator of Coventry University, it is with great pleasure that we are today recognising Alan Malik as an Honorary Doctor of Technology.
Born in London and raised in Coventry by his father a civil engineer and his mother a secretary, Alan is a true Coventrian through and through. Since moving to the city as a young child, Alan has made Coventry the centre of his business and family life.
Alan attended Finham Park School in Coventry, where he used to use a teletype to contact Coventry University when it was still a polytechnic, and regularly attended school workshop days on campus. Alan‘s childhood interests included cars and computers, and it was this love of computers that would kick start a truly impressive career.
From school Alan showed drive, determination and innovation and sold his school project to an educational software company. After a brief foray into computer games Alan recognised a need for new innovative software in the financial services field and he went on to establish Exasoft, heralded as one of the UK’s fastest growing tech companies and a winner of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise. Over the year’s Alan’s clients have included Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds TSB and Coventry Building Society.
Alan went on to set up further businesses, all with roots in Coventry, and he now employs more than 100 people locally. One of his businesses provides website solutions at a local, national and international level, and another, F2Uni, provides software education for the not for profit sector. This links in closely with the Children’s University Trust - a charitable trust that provides 7 to 14 year olds with exciting and innovative learning activities and experiences outside normal school hours – and has seen Alan work on educational contracts in Asia, Australia and much of mainland Europe.
His commitment to education and the voluntary sector has also seen Alan begin work on the site Organic Kid, which seeks to encourage young people to develop a ‘field to fork’ understanding and mind set.
Alan also has a love of football and he founded CCFC Asia, celebrating the links between the Asian community in Coventry and the Football Club’s efforts to help the young people of Rurka Khulan. Through this programme our own students share in an international experience and work closely with up to 600 Indian children through a football and educational project.
Alan was also one of the business people to put £100,000 of his own money into Coventry City Football Club when it launched Operation Premiership.
An inaugural backer of the City of Culture campaign, Alan has given of his own time and finances and is working hard to grow the network of supporters. He has also offered to use his IT skills and team members to create a platform for community engagement as and when Coventry wins the title.
Alan is married to Marion and they have two daughters Alex and Lizzie. Alex is currently studying on our mental health course here at Coventry University. When he has spare time, Alan loves to run and has taken part in four marathons raising money for various charities. He has also run lots of half marathons and 10k runs, and is a regular face at the Coventry park run on Saturdays.
In recognition of his longstanding contribution to entrepreneurship and innovation and ongoing commitment to the third sector, Coventry University, by decision of the Academic Board has the privilege of conferring the Degree of Doctor of Technology, honoris causa, on Alan Malik.