26 | Tees Business
MSV’s European client base. Leisurewear
is supplied to Spanish stars Atletico Madrid
and Sevilla, German giants Stuttgart and
Kaiserslautern, Swiss sides Basel and Zurich,
Dutch club Feyenoord and Austria’s Rapid
Vienna.
But there is no question which customer
gives Shab most pride.
With his eldest son Waka – soon to
succeed him as managing director – sitting
alongside him, he explains: “We’ve supplied
cricket gear for England and Australia,
leisurewear for Scotland’s football supporters
and plenty of leading football clubs across
England and Europe but Boro are my team.
It’s in the blood.”
The town of Middlesbrough is in Shab’s
blood too, despite the fact he was born
4,000 miles away in Pakistan. He spent his
first six years in Kashmir but remembers
nothing of his life before his parents brought
their five children to Teesside in the late
1950’s and early 1960’s.
They lived in West Terrace in North
Ormesby – “about a thousand yards from
where the Riverside is” – and Shab’s father,
Mohammed, quickly made a name for
himself within Middlesbrough’s fast-growing
Pakistani community.
“Because I moved here when I was so
young, I have no memories of my birth
place,” reflects Shab. “I am Middlesbrough
through and through.
“Dad came to labour on the railways,
though he was one of the first Asians who
came to Middlesbrough who was educated.
By that I mean he could read and write in
English which was a big deal in the late
1950s. It automatically gave him a status
within the community - anyone who wanted
their passport or citizenship sorted out
would come to him for help. He did all that
at his own expense; he was a servant of the
community.”
Mohammed – known affectionately to
all who knew him as Mehdi - ran a number
of unsuccessful businesses, including a
launderette which gave Shab, then aged just
12, his first taste of working life
“Our big break was opening Boro
Electronics in 1975,” says Shab. “It was
opposite the Gazette office on Borough
Road in Middlesbrough, and is now the
Masala restaurant. Until then all of Dad’s
businesses had lost money because all of
his mates used to come in, take stuff and
never pay for it. He was too generous. But
Boro Electronics made a fortune. When video
players, big hi-fis and Walkmans became
popular we made a killing. We used to come
home on Saturday night and throw the
cash on a double bed. I’d say we were the
wealthiest Pakistani family on Teesside back
then.”
In 1982, at the age of 21 and newly
married, Shab joined his father and older
brother as a partner of the business.
On the back of the store’s success, Mehdi
Snr bought Forbes’ Building, a derelict
former bakery on Linthorpe Road, which
he converted into 40 retail units, with Boro
Electronics relocating to take the prime
position. A more surprising move was his
Serving the Teesside Business Community | 27
TeesBizQuiz
Boro legend
Juninho with
an MSV sign
in 1996.
Shab’s answers are in bold.
Transporter Bridge or Newport Bridge?
North Yorkshire Coast or North York Moors?
Redcar or Saltburn?
The past or the future?
Live to work or work to live?
Teesside or Tees Valley?
Beer or wine? Neither
Working early or working late?
decision to invest in acquiring the plant
from Nabisco’s biscuit factory in Leicester,
arranging for it to be dismantled and shipped
to Islamabad.
With his father spending his time
between Islamabad and Teesside, Shab
took over the running of Boro Electronics,
responsible for running not only the extended
Middlesbrough unit but stores in Sunderland
and Newcastle too – a brave move for a store
named after a rival football team but situated
500 yards from St James’ Park!
Following a parting of the ways with his
brother, Shab started his own electronics
store on Middlesbrough’s Borough Road,
MSV, so named “because it sounded a bit
like MFC!” He struggles to hide his smile of
satisfaction as he recalls: “Everyone told me
not to do it – everyone, including the banks
– because of the market and the presence
of electronics giants like Curry’s, Comet and
Dixon’s. They told me ‘You’re just a little fella
so you won’t be able to compete’.”
But Shab saw a gap in the market for
personal service and expertise. “We were
appointed agents for top brands such as
Bose, Panasonic and Sony, and it all took off
from there.”
When MSV was up and running, Shab
decided to reignite a working relationship
with his beloved Boro, by then heading for
the Premier League under the management
of former England and Manchester United
captain Bryan Robson. Shab made contact
with the club’s commercial manager, Graham
Fordy, to offer his support. Soon after, the
business owner received a call from the Boro
man.
“I’ve got the manager here,” Fordy told
him. “He wants a fridge. Can you sort him
out?”
“We don’t do fridges,” Shab replied before
adding: “Wait a minute, which manager?”
“I mean Bryan Robson,” answered Fordy.
“It’s to keep his drinks cold in his office.”
“In that case,” replied Shab, “Yes, we do
sell fridges. And for Bryan, it’s free, as long
as we can put our logo on it!”
When, in 1995, the club’s move to the
Riverside heralded the signing of several
global superstars, Shab began a friendship
with Brazilian favourite Juninho. When
Juninho and compatriot Emerson opened
MSV’s new store in Redcar, police were
forced to close the High Street, such was the
clamour to meet the South American stars.
Buying or selling?
Parmo or lemon top?
Steve Gibson or Captain Cook?
Twitter or Facebook?
Brains or beauty?
Talking or listening?
Shab Mehdi (left) is set to hand over
the reins at MSV Leisure to son Waka.
Shab reveals: “When Juninho first came
over to England, I found out he was staying
at the Swallow in Stockton and went there to
meet him. We became good friends. I used
to get him and other players TVs, videos,
anything electronic, using my links with the
big manufacturers and MSV would sponsor
them.”
To this day, their friendship and commercial
relationship continues, with MSV Sport
supplying apparel to Ituano, the Sao Paulo
club where Juninho is now president, while
Shab has also produced a Juninho collection
for Middlesbrough FC.
In 1999, the electronics business opened a
new superstore on Portrack Lane, and initially
boomed. But, by 2003, Shab could see the
storm clouds gathering.
“I started to feel that long-term this
electronics business wasn’t going to work.
Markets were disappearing, brands were
disappearing. The first plasma TV we sold
was to (MFC chairman) Steve Gibson, which
was a 42-inch Phillips plasma TV with a retail
price tag of £12,000, though naturally Steve
got a mate’s rate. I saw something very
similar recently for £219. How many TVs
would I need to sell to cover my overheads
of £450,000? It just wasn’t a sustainable
business.”
Shab diversified, launching sports fashion
business MSV Sport in 2003. Their first
customers? Middlesbrough Football Club,
of course, with the fledgling company’s first
product being a Boro jumper.
Having initially run both businesses in
tandem, Shab moved the electronics arm
into new premises on Linthorpe Road but
soon decided to focus purely on the fastgrowing leisurewear branch. Their recent deal
with Tottenham means MSV and their team
of six now supply high-end leisurewear to 24
professional sports clubs.
From their 5,000 sq ft base on
Middlesbrough’s Warelands Way Industrial
Estate, they design leisurewear and
accessories for football aristocracy.
Everything is designed in-house, with
manufacturing taking place at a factory in
Istanbul in which the Teesside company own
a share.
“The Turkish factory gives us fast turnaround in relatively small quantities,” explains
Shab. “Before this year’s Champions League
final, Atletico Madrid ordered 15,000 T-shirts
but they needed them 72 hours after placing
the order. That would have been impossible
without having our own factory.”
Now Shab is ready to hand over the reins
to eldest son Waka, while he hopes the
futures of youngest sons Imran, aged 17, and
Iesa, 14, will also be within MSV.
“I don’t think Steve Gibson
realises how important
he is for the town and
the benefits businesses
such as mine receive from
having his support.”
He explains: “I’ll move upstairs and
run the business, rather than letting it
run me, with Waka taking over as MD. I
need to free up my time so I can be more
strategic.
“I do enjoy the work, otherwise I
wouldn’t do it. If you’re a worker, you’re a
worker. I don’t need to but I want to give my
customers a good service – to look after the
people that put their trust in us.
“I built this business from nothing so I’m
happy and content. Now my vision is to leave
a business for the family. That’s why I work
hard. I’m always on the go.
“I want MSV to be around for many years
to come and I can never see us moving
out of Teesside. The UK’s textiles hub is
Manchester but the people I deal with in
Madrid, Seville, Vienna, Rotterdam, Basel and
Stuttgart think it’s Middlesbrough because
I’m always telling them about the place. I’m
Former Boro boss Bryan Robson
with Shab and a 1994-95 retro shirt
produced by MSV Sport.
like Boro’s special envoy!”
Now, with Boro back at English football’s
top table, life has rarely seemed better, as
this dedicated supporter reflects: “Boro in
the Premier League is a good thing for the
town, it puts us on the global map. We have
Steve Gibson to thank for that.
“I don’t think Steve realises how important
he is for the town and the benefits that
businesses such as mine receive from having
his support. It’s great for Teesside for Boro to
be back in the Premier League and hopefully
for MSV too.”