The awards for 2009 will be given out at a prestigious Awards Ceremony on 1st November 2009. The event will be held at St John’s Hotel in Solihull, Birmingham. The awards evening will consist of a 5 course banqueting meal, choice of entertainment, guest speakers, and the main awards ceremony itself.
We will have a celebrity to host the event, and also VIP dignitaries including MPs and Ministers to come and present the awards.
The aim of the awards are:
To help unemployed people in to work
To encourage chef’s to use the train to gain scheme to equip them with professional skills and recognisable qualifications
To attract tourism to the Midlands and bring in businesses and individuals to invest in the midlands
To help businesses connected to the catering trade to improve their scope and business
To recognise and reward individuals and businesses that have contributed to the curry industry in the Midlands.
We will be working with all partner agencies in the Midlands to create awareness of the curry industry. We will be actively promoting businesses in the Midlands in order to bring the Midlands to the map. We will be using various media partners to promote not only the event but also the Midlands.
The event will be held at St John’s Hotel in Solihull with a gala dinner on 1st November 2009. Our target is to attract between 800-1000 people from across the Midlands including celebrities and dignitaries from around the UK. We will be working with celebrity chefs in the Midlands and experts in the catering sector, and taking nominations from individuals and businesses.
A panel of independent judges will be used to assess the nominees and awards. A shortlist of 3 will be created for each category and the awards will be presented on the night. There will also be a list of the top 10 establishments within the category areas.
We believe that with the current financial crisis, having these awards and promoting Midland businesses we will help to keep the financial crisis away from the catering sector in the Midlands.
On the night we will have a drinks reception from 6pm with a prompt start at 7pm. We aim to have a 5 course banqueting meal throughout the awards presentations. There will be some entertainment in the form of singers and bollywood dancers. We will have a range of guest speakers including government ministers and MPs.
Judging panel :
TOMMY MIAH Celebrity Chef and Entrepreneur, one of the leading Bangladeshi businessmen
in the UK (owns the award-winning Raj Restaurant in Edinburgh)
PAUL FULFORD features editor and top food critic at the Birmingham Mail
ARUN BAJAJ Chairman of IAB (Institute of Asian Businesses)
JUNE WARNER Editor of Masala magazine
ALAN TUNICLIFFE Regional Sales Manager, Bangla Beer
ARTI HALAI former ITV Central newsreader and Director of AH Action
JOHN HACKNEY Express and Star journalist
The ten best restaurant winners will be from these categories
· Birmingham & Solihull
· Black Country & Walsall
· Staffordshire
· Warwickshire& Coventry
· Derbyshire
· Nottinghamshire
· Shropshire
· Northamptonshire
· Leicestershire
· Worcestershire
The final five awards to be given out on the night are :
· Newcomer of the year
· Chef of the year
· Young Business person of the year
· Businesswoman of the year
· Lifetime achievement award
More information is available at www.midlandscurryawards.co.uk
