When Perween Warsi moved from India to Britain in the mid-1970s with her
husband, a doctor, she was appalled by the Indian food she found on the
supermarket shelves.
“UK consumers were being asked to pay for dishes that had neither the taste
nor the quality they deserved,” she said.
Knowing she could do better, Warsi started testing her dishes locally. “I
began supplying the local delis and takeaways around Derby with things like
samosas and they sold well.”
Although it began as a kitchen-table operation, her ambition was great. “My
vision right from the start was to see the products on the shelves of shops
all over the country.”
Through persistence over several months she persuaded the supermarket chain
Asda to take her dishes. There was just one problem: she had no factory for
her new company, which she called S&A foods after her young sons, Sadiq
and Abid.
“At that point I was running the business from home with five ladies who came
in to help me.” She decided to be open with Asda about the situation.
Fortunately, the supermarket was prepared to wait and Warsi scraped together
the money to open a small factory. Family and friends tiled the building
throughout the night before Asda’s crucial visit, said Warsi.
The business began to grow fast and she fought to keep pace. “After a year I
realised we did not have enough space even after we had extended the unit.
It was obvious we needed further investment to build a bigger factory to
produce ready meals,” she said.
In 1988 she accepted an offer to join the Hughes Food Group, which bought a
share in the business. Giving up the firm’s independence wasn’t easy but it
was the only option, said Warsi. “We needed investment and we had tried many
other options. We tried the bank but they wanted to see three years of
trading records and we had been going for only a few months. We believed our
business had a future and that it was worth selling some shares. It meant we
could realise some of the potential in the business and broaden our range.”
Without any catering, food-technology or business qualifications she grew the
business. “I have no formal qualifications. I learnt my trade by doing it
and by learning from the accountants how to do the wages and payslips.”
With its growth and investment problems solved, sales soon exceeded £5m, but
three years later S&A’s parent company went into administration. “It was
not our fault as we had a strong, profitable, growing business, but it made
life difficult,” said Warsi.
“It meant that the administrator had day-to-day control of purchases. They had
lots of interest for the group from potential buyers who came to visit,
which was very distracting and demotivating. It also meant all our
development work stopped.”
With the support of venture-capital backer 3i, Warsi bought back the company
in 2004. Soon the business was growing fast again, diversifying its product
range to become Asda’s largest supplier of chilled foods.
“We try to keep innovating and raising the bar with new product lines,
including supermarket takeaway bags and pick-and-mix,” she said.
Now entirely family-owned, the company makes 1.25m ready meals a week, employs
600 staff, turns over more than £60m a year and has plans to expand
internationally.
Warsi admits that in the early years it was a struggle to balance her work and
family life. “The family always seemed like a juggling act, trying to fit
the working day round picking up the children from school and getting a hot
meal ready.
“It’s all about family helping out in those situations. My husband, Talib, was
involved in the business from the start. Without his help, support and
involvement I would never have done it.”
Despite her husband’s support, the challenges of running the company were
great. “I would get up at 2am and work 18 or 19-hour days. There was a lot
to do, including dropping off the ladies who worked with me because I did
not want them to walk home.”
The hard work never ground her down, however. “It was thrilling. It was
demanding, but it’s a choice you make and you learn what your priorities are
and manage them.”
