Yorkshire’s Mumtaz restaurant group plans to open restaurant in exclusive area of London
Speaking exclusively to The Yorkshire Post, executive director Maryam Mumtaz said the family-owned business, which has two restaurants in Bradford and Leeds, will invest a seven-figure sum in opening a site in either Mayfair or Knightsbridge in the capital.
A further opening in Birmingham will take place the following year.
The London restaurant will create around 50 new jobs.
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Hide AdMs Mumtaz, who is a third generation director in the family business, which has a £12.7m turnover and 200 staff, said: “Over the last year or so we have been consolidating the business to make sure we are in a strong position for the future.
“Yorkshire is well covered by Mumtaz. We have customers who come to our restaurants from all over the region. Now it’s time to conquer the south.”
The business, which was founded 40 years ago in Bradford, opened its second restaurant in Leeds during the recession in 2009.
It is one of the biggest restaurants in Leeds which has capacity for 300 people, next to the Royal Armouries at Clarence Dock. The company invested around £3m on the fit-out.
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Hide AdMs Mumtaz said: “We’ve always had demand to open in London and Birmingham and we’re at the final stages of finalising our London site.”
This is the company’s second attempt to expand outside of Yorkshire. It briefly opened a pilot franchise restaurant in Manchester in 2016 but later abandoned the franchise model.
At the same time, the original Mumtaz restaurant in Bradford is undergoing transformation as the business celebrates its 40th anniversary in the food industry.
Ms Mumtaz said it was too early to reveal what form the changes would take but she was confident they would “take everyone by surprise” and added the plans would create 30 new jobs.
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Hide AdMeanwhile, she is in the early stages of relaunching the company’s sauces and marinades division which stopped production two years ago when it shut its overseas factories.
She plans to bring production back to Bradford, in a factory next to the restaurant, in a move which she says will create a further 15-20 new jobs.