‘Curry King’ feeds his knowledge to SMEs

ENTREPRENEUR Charan Gill – dubbed ‘Scotland’s Curry King’ – was in Yorkshire yesterday to pass on some of his business expertise to SME owners.

Mr Gill said that despite the recession, businesses had opportunities to grow but had to be prepared to put the effort in to make their ventures work.

Speaking to TheBusinessDesk.com prior to his appearance as keynote speaker at the Moving Up 2010 conference for SMEs, organised by Financial Leeds, Mr Gill said: “There is no doubt about it that during a recession there are opportunities.

“But people have to be ready to face the hard work and have sleepless nights and it’s no easy ride. But if you can do it, and do it well, it’s worth it.”

Speaking of the recent recession, he added: “The wheels of business and property have tumbled off and now there is a lack of liquidity. And that’s the big issue.”

Mr Gill, who was late arriving at the event in Leeds because of heavy snow in Scotland, rose to fame after building up a chain of 17 curry restaurants.

Mr Gill, who said he was impressed by the Yorkshire food scene, sold the Harlequin Restaurant Group in 2005.

He now has a thriving property business and has launched two new restaurants under the Slumdog name.

The conference also included talks by Tom Vosa, head of market economics Europe at National Australia Bank, and Zulfi Hussain.

There were also seminars aimed at helping small business owners learn new skills.