Imtiaz Shaikh is the founder of Tomini Group. He comes from a family whose roots are deeply embedded in the shipping industry, including his pioneering grandfather who set up the United Oriental Steamship Company in 1952.

Mr. Shaikh has been the driving force behind the success of Tomini Group, which over the last 40 years has owned more than 120 ships.

With his experience of over four decades in the shipping industry, Mr. Shaikh has become well known for his talents of forecasting trends in the shipping business. He believes his success is a result of his strategic thinking and keeping ‘risk to rewards’ as the basis for every decision.

During his career in shipping, Mr. Shaikh has built strong and well-established relationships among renowned charterers and traders. He has also provided the vision of diversification, while always upholding the principal values of the company. Under his leadership and vision for future growth, Tomini is entering an era of new build bulk carriers.

Whilst shipping is 90 percent of the family business, Tomini Group has also diversified its business over the years into other industries, including classic cars. With a passion for unique cars, Mr. Shaikh built a private collection of classic cars into a collection of over 100 cars, and established Tomini Classics in 2014. Today Tomini Classics is Dubai’s premier classic car showroom and gallery, the first and finest postwar classic car collection in the Middle East.

Mr. Shaikh is passionate about promoting access to education as well as supporting various humanitarian initiatives. Together with his family he supports a number of local and international charities. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Postgraduate Degree in shipping from the London School of Trade. In 2019, Mr. Shaikh was honored with the Outstanding Achievement Award in the Maritime Industry by The Maritime Standards.

Mr. Shaikh, who was born in Pakistan and has lived in the United Kingdom and Africa, has three children and lives with his family in Dubai.