Details emerge of quick-fire deal to save 12 jobs at Indian fine dining restaurant

Some 12 jobs were saved when Amita Sawhney of MemSaab stepped in to save fine dining Indian restaurant Masala Junction, it has emerged.

Masala Junction closed its doors on 15 October after a series of “unrelenting challenges” exacerbated by the pandemic hit its bottom line.

The restaurant had been in business for seven years and was named Best Neighbourhood Restaurant at the Nottingham Restaurant & Bar Awards in 2019.

At the end of October, Sawhney rescued the business from closure, helped by Nelsons’ commercial property team.

Riaz Dudhia, partner and head of commercial property at Nelsons, who worked on the deal, said: “The acquisition of the Masala Junction business, its assets and property, really demonstrated what can be achieved through an established client relationship. We were working to achieve a very tight completion date so, not only did we need excellent communication with all parties, but we also needed to pull on the resources across the firm, including contributions from the corporate and real estate team.”

It has come to light that the deal had been agreed just a few days before the intended closure of Masala Junction, meaning that all legal due diligence and the transaction had to be completed as soon as possible to preserve the good will of the business and to protect those employed.

Sawhney said: “It was important to me that we were able to reopen quickly and retain all staff. The speed at which this acquisition took place certainly made it quite unique and I’m grateful to Nelsons for being able to guide us through the process smoothly.”

Nelsons, which has offices in Nottingham, Leicester and Derby, acted on behalf of purchaser and new tenant Axiom Ventures.