Majhu paid Gill £8m for Harlequin Restaurants, which includes the Ashoka chain, about four years ago.
Gill himself emphasised he had absolutely no intention of returning to the Indian restaurant business at the time he sold Harlequin.
However, as revealed in The Herald yesterday, Gill has now decided to open an Indian eatery in Glasgow named Slumdog, after the smash-hit film, having registered this name as a trademark.
Majhu noted the Slumdog site at 410 Sauchiehall Street was across the road from the Kama Sutra restaurant, which is one of Harlequin’s 14 restaurants.
Majhu, who also owns the Apple Pharmay chain and has had a 30-year friendship with Gill, appeared at pains to be diplomatic when asked by The Herald yesterday about Gill’s return to the Glasgow curry scene.
However, not only did Majhu declare he was “very surprised”, but he also highlighted his belief it was a time for “consolidation rather than expansion” amid the current recession.
Majhu, who noted that Gill had been his mentor for many years by the time he bought Harlequin four years ago, said: “I wish him luck with his business. I am very surprised he is coming back in but he is coming back in. He has made that decision and good luck to him.”
He added: “I am very surprised if anyone is opening an Indian restaurant just now. It is not the right time to do it. My advice to anyone is try to consolidate what you have – not try to expand it because consolidation is what it is all about now.”
Asked about current trading at Harlequin Restaurants, Majhu said: “We are going through a very tough economic climate but the Ashoka is a very, very strong brand. I believe they are much better restaurants now than they have ever been.”
When his friend was asked on the issue of going into the Indian restaurant business again in the same city as Majhu, Gill said: “I think
the more the merrier, personally. I have always believed competition is what drives quality.”
He added: “I think it is all about being a wee bit different. I am not going for the same market Harlequin has got.”
Gill said there had been a two-year restrictive covenant in the Harlequin sale deal “that I couldn’t open within a couple of miles of any
Harlequin restaurant”.
He added: “I wouldn’t have done that anyway.”
Gill observed he was opening Slumdog about four years after the sale of Harlequin.
But while Majhu is very surprised anyone would open a new Indian eatery in the downturn, Gill believes the recession-induced tumble in commercial property prices has created an opportunity to make the financials for restaurants stack up.
Gill said the cost of buying the premises for Slumdog and the fit-out would total about £1m. He added that the site in the centre of the city had been on the market last year for about £1.75m.
Gill acquired the site, which was most recently The Sauchiehaugh and was in the 1990s the trendy Maxaluna bar, from pubs chain
Mitchells & Butlers.
He sees potential to open a chain of Slumdog restaurants in major cities throughout the UK. However, he has emphasised he does not expect to open two Slumdog outlets in the same city.
He said the Slumdog concept would be based around entertainment, with only one sitting per evening. There would also be a focus on decoration and design, with Gill having travelled to Rajasthan to acquire wall-coverings and cutlery from old palaces and houses.
However, he is for now keeping other details under wraps. The Glasgow Slumdog is due to open in October.
On the state of the consumer sector, Gill noted people on mortgages linked to the UK base rate, which is currently at a record low of 0.5%,
currently had much greater disposable income.
However, he expressed worries about what might happen once base rates began to rise.
The idea for the Slumdog business venture struck Gill when he was approached about a television programme on food eaten in India’s back streets, to be aired in the run-up to the small-screen premiere of Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire. This programme never came to fruition.
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