1. Biz Network May 2021 1-38.qxp_Chamberlink 30/04/2021 09:30 Page 22
THE BIG INTERVIEW
The
taste of success It’s no secret that 2020 – and the beginning of this year – have been incredibly tough on the hospitality, leisure and event industries. Leicesterbased catering business Sanjay Foods is no exception, losing 90% of its usual revenue as live events have been off limits, but founder and CEO Atul Lakhani has been savvy enough to diversify his offering with a new takeaway service and virtual cooking lessons to survive. He explains to Dan Robinson how he’s never worked harder than over the past year – and what the future holds. “You’re only as good as your last event” has been a favourite tagline for Atul Lakhani throughout his entrepreneurial life. It’s carried him far as his catering business Sanjay Foods became a powerhouse in the Midlands events industry and landed him an exclusive contract at a polo club. But over the past 14 months, as live events closed down and he was forced to look at alternative income streams including a takeaway service and virtual cooking lessons, there’s been a subtle variation on his mantra. “The pandemic has taught us we can’t take anything for granted in life,” says Atul. “But it hasn’t changed our outlook, and we’ve stayed true to our values. “From the onset of starting our takeaway service in Leicester, I said to the team that the ethos must be exactly the same as it’s always been when we’ve served lots of people at big events. “In the events game, you can do 50 amazing events and one bad one, which is unfortunately the one that’s remembered. “The only difference during the pandemic has been that we’re only as good as our last takeaway. “And that’s so important because one poor takeaway will reflect upon our brand that we’ve given our lives to building.” ATUL HAS HIS family to thank for his resilience, in particular his Indian-born father Bhagwanji, who had to start from scratch when he brought his young family – including a five-year-old Atul, his mother and four older sisters (his younger brother arrived three months later) – to Leicester from Uganda in the 1970s. Although Bhagwanji lost all his money in a number of businesses, he set up the renowned pure vegetarian restaurant Bobby’s in 1976, introducing Atul to the hospitality business. “I’m young enough to harbour my own entrepreneurial instincts but I’m old enough to remember the commitment the first generation of immigrants made – the sacrifice and perseverance,” says the married father-of-four. After studying economics and politics at the University of Greenwich, he set up Sanjay Foods in 2001. It has evolved beyond merely a catering business into an event management company, helping clients to plan, design and deliver weddings, corporate parties 22
business network May 2021
The caterer's menu now includes Indian, Lebanese, Arabic, IndoChinese and Thai dishes
Sanjay Foods has built a reputation for catering at large-scale weddings
and charity events. The food offer has expanded too from primarily Indian dishes to now include Lebanese, Arabic, Indo-Chinese, Thai and English cuisine. The company has the catering rights at more than 180 venues spanning the breadth of the UK and has built a particular reputation for working at luxury Indian weddings. Arguably its biggest moment arrived in 2014. Having already been one of seven caterers at the IXL Events Centre, a multi-million-pound conference and wedding venue set in a 600-acre estate at the Dallas Burston Polo Club in rural Warwickshire, Sanjay Foods was appointed the exclusive caterer. Five years later, Atul’s company took another step forward and acquired the conference centre, which is a popular location for weddings, car launches and other big events such as at Christmas. “Dallas Burston Polo Club is a prestigious, quintessentially English setting in the countryside just outside Royal Leamington Spa, so it was a real feather in our cap,” says Atul. “To go from being one of seven caterers to win the exclusive rights – and then go on to take it over – wasn’t something we’d ever expected and it still blows me away, to be honest. “I look back and remember how we couldn’t even charge what we were worth in the early days, but it
Atul Lakhani pictured outside IXL Events Centre
