Our
People

Bilal Ahmed

Founder & Executive Chairman

Bilal is the co-founder and Chairman of Sama Investment Group of companies, driving the company’s long-term vision and strategic direction.

His 25-year property experience spans planning, development, construction, sales, and finance, with a specific focus on the property markets across the central regions of England.

Bilal has a proven track record in complex real estate development and investment transactions, working closely with investment partners to deliver significant projects in the UK. He has been instrumental in the group’s major acquisitions, finding value in large-scale mixed opportunities.

With a background in bridge finance, Bilal has also launched OFFA – the UK’s first Sharia compliant lending platform.

Paul Squire

Co-Founder & CEO

Paul helped form SAMA in 2017. An engineer by profession, he brings a wealth of experience to his role as CEO having worked in project management across various industry sectors since 2000, delivering successful property development schemes since 2006.

Paul has overall responsibility for Sama’s operations, implementing ethical business strategies across numerous projects. He has a special focus on student accommodation schemes and overseeing the re-development of brownfield sites, which have become a staple part of Sama’s property business.

He started his career as an engineer in the Royal Navy. He then worked in the defence, IT, automotive and property industries, honing his project and general management skills across these diverse sectors.

Sultan Choudhury

Executive Director

Sultan’s remit at Sama is to secure investment and to ensure Sharia-compliancy. He has 26 years’ experience in financial services. He was formerly with Deloitte, Charles Schwab, Barclays, and Al Rayan Bank. His current roles include as Executive Chairman of sharia-compliant bridge finance start-up OFFA.

Starting life as a chartered accountant (FCA), Sultan has become one of the UK’s leading figure in Islamic finance. He played an instrumental role as part of the founding management team that obtained Western Europe’s first Islamic banking licence for Al Rayan Bank, where he served as CEO for 8 years. During this time, he turned the loss-making business into a profitable one with exponential growth through a real estate financing strategy, building the balance sheet to £2bn.

Sultan is a Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment. He also sits on the Islamic Finance Council UK Advisory Board.

Paul Casola

Executive Director

Paul is a chartered town planner and project manager and transport planner, with over 20 years of experience in both the public and private sectors.

He has worked on a variety of development projects across the UK spanning residential, commercial, and urban regeneration. These schemes have ranged from a small number of units on a brownfield site right through to strategic urban extensions of thousands of houses, with supporting infrastructure.

Paul’s focus has been on realising the value of a site and guiding a scheme through the planning process. Having worked closely with Sama as an advisor for many years, Paul now brings that knowledge and capability in-house.

Brett McGee

Project Manager

Brett is a chartered construction and project management professional, with over 20 years in the construction sector.

He has extensive experience of construction within the built environment across a wide variety of developments ranging from infrastructure and commercial and residential developments through to heat networks and the implementation of low carbon sustainable technologies.

A versatile and resourceful construction professional, Brett takes a ‘hands on’ approach to projects. He is adept at planning and implementing effective new systems, procedures and innovative construction solutions. He brings leadership and strong collaborative ethic to teams.

Ian Humphries

Senior Land Consultant

Ian has been involved in the UK property market for over 35 years, primarily working across the Midlands and the Southwest, as well as spending a decade in London.

Ian began his career as a negotiator in estate agency, progressing through to land director roles with several PLC housebuilders. Previously, he has overseen deals for a wide range of new settlements, advising on all aspects of the purchase and agreements for site sizes that vary from 10 plots to 2,000.

Ian now brings his extensive experience in land purchase to Sama.

Jawwad Nizam

Finance Director

Jawwad is a chartered accountant, who is both an Associate of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) and a Certified Accounting Technician (CAT). He brings over a decade of experience in financial accounting and reporting. Jawwad came to Sama having been the Financial Controller at Gatehouse Bank. Prior to that he spent seven years at Al Rayan Bank. His role includes financial reporting and preparing statutory financial statements and reports to the board.

Sheikh Farid

Finance Controller

Sheikh has a degree in BSC Banking and Finance from London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), as well as CeMAP and ACCA qualifications. Sheikh is responsible for the day-to-day accounts, preparing development appraisals, deal analysis and the preparation of reports for the Board.

Marie Fortunato

Executive Assistant

Marie has over 20 years’ administration experience in various roles working for Graham National Sales, MG Rover, Foster Care Associates and Signature Private Finance. She also has an NVQ level 3 in Business Administration along with Customer Service experience. Marie is responsible for the day to day running of the office.

Mufti Faraz Adam

Shariah Advisor

Mufti Faraz Adam is a UK-based Islamic Finance & FinTech advisor and heads the Shariah advisory firm Amanah Advisors. He serves as an advisor on several global Shariah boards in countries such as Bahrain, Singapore, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, and the United States. He has published over a dozen research papers in contemporary Islamic Finance matters and has published many chapters in Islamic FinTech.

Mufti Faraz studied his Islamic degree in the UK and completed his Mufti training and course in South Africa. He completed a master’s degree in Islamic Finance, Banking and Management from Newman University, UK in 2017. He has attained various finance-industry qualifications such as the IFQ, CIFE and is a Certified Shariah Advisor and Auditor (CSAA). He has completed an MBA diploma and specialised in Fintech at the University of Michigan, US. He holds an ACCA Accounting and Business diploma and is currently a candidate at the Chartered Insurance Institute for Regulated Financial Planning.

Dylan Ahmed

Graduate Planning Project Trainee

Dylan has a BA (Hons) in Finance and Investment. He joined the team in July 2022 as a Trainee Project Manager seeking a long-term career in property investment and development.

Dylan has experience looking after a Buy-To-Let rental portfolio, which he has managed for over two years. He has also been seeking potential new additions for the rental portfolio, learning to use multiple real estate software packages, as well as building relationships with local estate agents and auction houses.

Aieshea Wheeler

Accounts Assistant

Aieshea has worked in the financial industry for six years, gained good experience in a variety of roles. She holds an AAT Level 4 Diploma in Professional Accounting.

Aieshea is responsible for Sama’s accounts, payroll, project costings, and cashflow.