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Press Statement – Calling All Political Parties: Don’t Forget About The UK’s Curry Industry? Our Votes Matter

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Oli Khan, MBE, President of Bangladesh Caterers Association (BCA), the UK’s largest organisation representing 12,000 UK curry restaurants and takeaways, speaks out about the apathy from the political parties towards his sector. BCA has heard nothing from any of the candidates, especially Starmer or Sunak to convince BCA members that their vote matters. BCA has now seen both of the manifestos from the two main parties and while both commit to looking at the unfair burden of business rates on business and reducing the burden on high street businesses, there’s nothing specifically outlined for the UK’s curry industry, which is a unique part of the overall hospitality sector.

Curry houses and takeaways can be found on every high street and are at the heart of every community in the UK. But sadly, like the rest of the UK’s hospitality industry, the UK’s curry restaurants and takeaways across the country are facing challenging times since Brexit and the pandemic. Where BCA has seen many established and successful Indian cuisine restaurants decide to close their doors. The cost of running a curry house today, along with the lack of experienced chefs and hospitality staff, and high VAT, now outweighs the costs of operating this type of business.

Oli Khan MBE, President of BCA says – “Till now I and the rest of BCA have not seen any political party recognise our value. It’s worth remembering that pre the pandemic, we were an industry that contributed £4.2 billion per year to the UK’s economy. Our industry must make its concerns known to politicians of all parties. We will be asking them as they campaign to support this vital industry.

We need to see all political parties recognise our sector’s significance and contribution to gross domestic product and employment. We need to see the real evidence of measures that can unlock the potential of our industry to do more and put us back to where we were in 2019. We need four key political promises:

 

  1. Immediate review of the salary threshold of migrant workers, which has risen to an exorbitant Skilled Worker salary threshold of £38,700 per year, a huge increase from £26,200 per year currently and impossible for any small business.
  2. Invest in apprentice schemes to nurture the next generation of curry chefs, including the investment in training creating more jobs and further upskilling the workforce.
  3. Immediate action to lower the tax burden on the curry industry.
  4. Immediate initiatives that give us greater access to hospitality staff as Brexit has curtailed access.”

For all media enquiries contact Sangeeta Waldron – email sangeeta@serendipitypr.co.uk

BBC MasterChef Host Greg Wallace Presents This Year’s Curry Award

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I have been working on the Bangladesh Caterers Association (BCA) curry awards since 2017 and each year the competition becomes fiercer and the actual night more glamorous. This year the awards night was held on 30 October 2022 and is now in its 16th year, where this special event announces the regional winners of its prestigious Chef and Restaurant of the Year Awards and celebrates their success as a community.

This year, industry expert and celebrity Greg Wallace, MBE, and Tasmin Lucia-Khan were the hosts of the night, which took place at the Park Plaza, London. The theme for the awards was – ‘Celebrating Success & Inspiring Others’, a theme that is close to the heart and mission of BCA.

There were seven regional chef winners, three takeaways who won ‘Takeaway of the Year’ and ten winning restaurants, with a new category for ‘Best Newcomer of the Year’, which was won by Pach Bhai, in Whitechapel, London. Each winner was chosen from hundreds of outstanding entrants and was judged on their innovation, presentation of food, hygiene standards, and customer service.

These awards celebrate the success of local restaurants, who are critical in keeping local communities thriving and crucially the very best of the Bangladeshi curry industry, shining a light on great local curry houses that are creating some of the best experiences on the high street. All the winners are not just inspiring this industry, they are keeping the legacy of British curry alive and show the best of what our curry houses have to offer.

Times have been tough for the hospitality industry in recent years. They battled the global pandemic, and lockdowns and are now facing their biggest challenge with the cost-of-living crisis. Confidence of this sector has tumbled, and times are tough. These uncertainties are impacting Britain’s curry industry and unless costs come under control, many curry restaurants will go under, and sadly many jobs will be lost.

Sadly, the great British tikka masala – the nation’s favourite dish – is under threat as never before and the curry industry is being hit by cost increases in everything from gas to spices, vegetable oil to mango chutney. Pre-pandemic, the UK’s curry industry contributed £4.2 billion to the national economy and now during these uncertain times, BCA seeks to unlock this industry’s full potential once again, as one of the biggest engines for growth in the UK economy.

This is an organization that believes in community, where together with its 12,000 members it can make a difference. So, if you are reading this, do try to support your local curry house, if you can.

 

Serendipity PR & The National Curry Awards

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I have been working on the media campaign, which involved writing all the main speeches and brochure copy for the 12th Annual National Curry Awards for best Chef and Restaurant of the Year, hosted by the Bangladesh Caterers Association (BCA), which took place on 19 November in Central London at the Park Plaza Hotel Westminster.

BCA is a fascinating organisation that has been going since 1960, representing over 12,000 restaurants across the UK and contributing a whopping £4.2 billion to the economy. As aside the late former foreign secretary Robin Cook, in 2001, gave the seminal “chicken tikka masala speech where he said that ‘chicken tikka masala’ is now Britain’s true national dish.

The evening was co-hosted by celebrities Tasmin Lucia Khan and Alexis Conran. Over 1,200 attended, which included dignitaries, Parliamentarians and high-profile individuals. The evening was glitzy, glamorous affair where strong speeches were made to draw attention to the plight of Britain’s curry industry, which is in a crisis due to the shortage of skilled chefs. The British curry sector is going through one of its most critical periods in its history, where at least three to four restaurants are closing a week, while there are challenges for new curry houses who have had their openings delayed because they can’t find the chefs.

This year’s theme was – BCA: Sourcing Britain’s Love for Curry Since 1960, which I came up with, as BCA wanted a strong strapline to reflect these uncertain and difficult times. A strapline that said something about its history, cultural relevance here in Britain and about the food it creates. They also wanted a strapline that they could be proud of and think we got it just right!

BCA’s Chefs and Restaurants are the source of British curry in local areas, where they are helping high-streets thrive and most of all are continuously evolving the story of British curry.

I believe there is so much authentic passion in food; it is a form of cultural self-expression, as much as it is about social identity and nutrition. Food is a tool of economic regeneration and cooking has the power to transform society because it touches everything: education, the environment, entrepreneurship, cultural identity, agriculture and trade. But more importantly food brings people together. These BCA Awards reinforces this premise.