Caterer Payal invests in West Midlands base

THE Manchester event caterer behind the wedding of boxer Amir Khan is to open a regional office in Birmingham following a clutch of new partnership agreements in the West Midlands.

Payal Group, which will use Birmingham’s International Convention Centre as its base, has invested £500,000 into the project, which could eventually create hundreds of new jobs.

The group has signed an exclusive partnership with the ICC plus other venues including Edgbaston Cricket Ground and St John’s Hotel in Solihull.  These join other Payal affiliated venues in the UK including Tatton Park, Natural History Museum in London and Blenheim Palace in Oxford.

Neil Dosanjh has been appointed as business development executive and will head up the new office at the ICC from September. The new Birmingham office adds to the group’s existing operations in Manchester and London.

Payal managing director Raj Somaiya said: “We are really excited to be in the hub of the UK, especially as it sits perfectly between our Manchester and London offices.  We have committed to a five year business development growth plan for the Midlands with an investment of over half a million pounds, which will create hundreds of long term jobs for our hospitality industry.

“The ICC has seen our growth plan and the investment we are bringing into the Midlands and have given us a great deal of support as we make our new home in the centre of Birmingham.”

This year has already seen the business cater for 3,000 guests at Bolton boxer Amir Khan’s wedding at Manchester’s Event City.Other clients include families at the helm of East End Foods, Pataks and S & A Foods.

“After speaking to local suppliers in our Asian wedding market there a massive need for change, competition, innovation and general drive. We recently catered for Birmingham Airport’s Air India event where we gave guests a flavour of the high standards they can expect from Payal,” added Mr Somaiya.