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Jabbar
Khan, the founder of Lasan in the Jewellery Quarter, has poured scorn
on the new Midlands Curry Awards which require a "nomination
fee" of £25 per entry.
The organisers of the awards, the
Birmingham Bangladeshi League (BBL), said the competition will help
to boost tourism and fight unemployment. It said the gala awards
evening, to be held on 1st November, will feature guest speakers
including MPs and Government Ministers.
According to the Birmingham Post,
the awards have been split into ten "council borders"
including Birmingham and Solihull, the Black Country and Walsall and
eight other counties such as Staffordshire and Worcestershire. There
are categories including Newcomer of the Year - for restaurants which
have been trading for less than two years - and Chef of the Year.
Mr Khan, a former winner of the
Institute of Directors' Young Director of the Year, questioned the
need for a new scheme, saying the proliferation of new awards was
confusing for consumers and did nothing to improve standards in the industry.
He said he was sceptical about
the judging criteria for the Midlands Curry Awards and believed it
was unacceptable to charge people to enter catering industry
competitions. Mr Khan said awards should be used as an occasion for
restaurants to reflect on what they had achieved and where they were
going in the future. "Awards such as this really are not
worth the paper they are written on," he added.
Nawaz Ali, vice-chairman and
secretary of the BBL, insisted that the Midlands Curry Awards would
recognise the best curry restaurants in the region.
Mr Ali defended the £25
entry fee, which he said was to cover administration costs.
Nominations close on August 31 and Mr Ali said the judging panel had
yet to be announced.
Enam Ali MBE, founder of British
Curry Awards is reported to be less than pleased with the new and
advised from Bangladesh that this case is in his solicitors' hands
and they are dealing with the Midlands Curry Awards 'vigourously'!
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