THE BIG INTERVIEW In June last year, he launched the Sanjay’s Express


home dining and takeaway service from the company’s kitchen at Belgrave Industrial Centre, just off Leicester’s Golden Mile strip. Having used the base as a launchpad for serving


event guests from Newcastle to Devon, and then focusing efforts on the polo club in the West Midlands, it offered an opportunity for Sanjay Foods to re-engage with its Leicester roots. There may have been opportunities for serving


customers from further afield but geography was restricted due to the city’s local lockdown. Atul says: “There was a time when people said you


could only get Sanjay Foods at a great event or wedding, but now people were getting their food delivered to their door.” The next idea arrived shortly after the takeaway


take-off as Sanjay Foods embraced the Zoom revolution with virtual live cooking experiences. It evolved from a previous service it had provided to


several law firms, in which spice kits were sent to the companies and, after adding fresh meat and vegetables, Sanjay chefs taught them how to cook an Indian dish.


‘I wanted that Jamie Oliver or Nigella Lawson experience with a proper kitchen environment, rather than a commercial setting’


The concept throughout lockdown has been similar but executed online. It has the potential to become a fixture of the business and, alongside the takeaway, helped to land the company the Excellence in Customer Service award at the Chamber’s Leicestershire Business Awards last year. “I wanted that Jamie Oliver or Nigella Lawson


experience with a proper kitchen environment, rather than a commercial setting,” explains Atul. “To the layman, it feels like something that can be replicated at home.” While the furlough scheme has helped Sanjay Foods


to get by and there was a drop in permanent headcount from 25 to 14, these services also sustained employment for many of the remaining team. Atul recites a quote from Askhari Johnson Hodari, an American black history academic who said, “if everyone helps to hold up the sky, then one person does not become tired”. He adds: “The virtual cooking experiences and the


takeaway have been a great way to keep going throughout the pandemic. I’ve probably done more work in this past year than the previous four, but I’ve really needed my core team to help me to hold up the sky.”


THE TAKEAWAY SERVICE is being phased out as the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown offers hope of bringing large-scale events back from 21 June. In reality, Atul predicts it’ll be 2022 until the shoots


of recovery are truly evident – with a “boom period” expected due to the large savings many workers have accumulated over lockdown and the jobs market being


Large indoor events have been banned since March 2020


‘I WANT TO FIND JUSTICE FOR OUR INDUSTRY’


A “perfect storm” of Covid-19 restrictions and gaps in funding support means catering companies like Sanjay Foods have been among the hardest hit during the pandemic. Atul, who until recently chaired the Large-Scale Weddings Working Group within the UK


Weddings Taskforce to provide industry representation with Government, says: “Throughout this period, I’ve wanted to find justice for our industry. “As a caterer, we were excluded from all grants because we weren’t deemed to be hospitality. “We were caught in a perfect storm. Firstly, we were prohibited from trading so there


was a blanket ban on large-scale weddings and events, and we didn’t benefit from the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme. “Secondly, we didn’t receive a penny in business interruption payouts even though we


were still spending so much money across the business, and we also had to make full refunds to clients – with the Competition and Markets Authority making no allowance for the time, money and effort that went into planning big events and food tastings. “On top of that, despite proactively advising clients to take wedding insurance, the


insurers that paid out to our clients made our lives hell on the basis of subrogation rights, which allowed them to pursue third parties such as ourselves. “And even though some service providers we use, such as our telecoms provider,


insisted on full payment, we’ve operated in a spirit of co-operation by behaving ethically with our own suppliers.” The acquisition of IXL Events Centre on the dawn of the first lockdown has proven to be


a costly exercise, with running costs totalling £50,000 per month despite remaining closed. Local restrictions grants have been available, along with business rates relief and the


Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, but it’s only plugged a small gap in a large income hole – with revenue down 90% on pre-Covid levels. “From a relatively strong business with no borrowing, it’s made us vulnerable because


the supply chain is totally excluded from hospitality support,” says Atul. “The longer this carries on, the worse it becomes. But we’re resilient people so we’ll get


through this.”


propped up by the furlough scheme. But he predicts the future for hospitality and events could look a lot different to the one that preceded the pandemic. “The market will change substantially,” he says.


“Clients will become a lot more risk-averse and no-one will take anything for granted. “I can see weddings downsizing and the lead time


being shorter than the usual 18 months because people want more certainty. The greatest challenge to business is uncertainty.” There are concerns over a post-Covid “brain drain”


from the hospitality industry due to the job insecurity of the past year and a reluctance for people to return to weekend work. Atul has also noticed lots of suppliers – particularly


Virtual cooking experiences were launched by Sanjay Foods during the pandemic


24 business networkMay 2021


solo female-led services such as cake makers and wedding dress makers – have shut down, with traders swapping their business for full-time employment. He adds: “The diehard hospitality people, where it


runs through their veins, will come back. “But certainly, it will be survival of the fittest – and we have no plans of giving up.”


Atul is optimistic about the future for the hospitality industry


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