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Are
The Cracks Showing?
by
Peter Grove
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The summer
months seem to have brought an unprecedented number of brushes
between restaurateurs in the Asian sector and the authorities in
their various forms.
We have had a
major award-winning restaurant in Birmingham being raided by the
Inland Revenue and being accused of all kinds of impropriety; we have
had several restaurants, including a major award-winner in Scotland
being raided by Immigration with rumours of many more to follow; we
have had several restaurants falling foul of Customs & Excise
resulting in some particularly nasty fines; we have had two branches
of a major award-winning group in Manchester fined £70,000 by
Health & Hygiene for cockroaches scampering across the tables
amongst other things and lastly we hear of Aakash in Cleckheaton, one
of the largest Indian restaurants in Europe, being shut down by its
bank leading to the bankruptcy of its very unfortunate owner.
I cannot
recollect a period of such catastrophe in almost 20 years and cannot
help wondering if it is a sign of more shocks to come. It is true
that business took quite a hit prior to the World Cup this year,
exacerbated by the hot weather and that it did not really pick up
until the end of the summer so perhaps one or two shocks were to be
expected.
Most worrying,
however, are the continuing stories of poor health and hygiene
applications and the continual raids of the Immigration authorities
looking for illegal staff. Such stories do not help an industry
already under economic pressure and perhaps suggests the lengths some
restaurateurs feel they have to go to to make ends meet.
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