The owner of Indian food restaurant Mela has opened its second outlet and unveiled plans to expand rapidly across Greater London and the surrounding areas.
Indian Restaurant Group, which launched Mela on Shaftesbury Avenue in central London in 2000, opened its second restaurant in Herne Hill, south London last Friday (4 July).
The company, which also owns the Chowki restuarant in Piccadilly Circus, has plans to open a further 13 Mela restaurants in and around London in the next two years.
It is the process of signing an agreement to open an 80-cover restaurant in Redhill, Surrey this week, and is in talks to open a fourth in Northwood, on the London/Hertfordshire border near Watford.
Kuldeep Singh, director of the Indian Restaurant Group, told Caterersearch: “We have £2.2m of liquidity available and we want to take on debt finance as well in order to expand.
“It’s time for the right operators to come through and start serving the food people want. Mela is a neighbourhood restaurant we want to provide a decent, good value authentic Indian meal at around £25 a head.”
Singh previously worked as an executive chef for the Taj group of hotels in India from 1987 to 1994. He moved to the UK in 1996 before opening the first Mela in 2000.
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By Gemma Sharkey
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