British Kebab Awards on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The British Kebab Awards (colloquially know as the 'kebabbies') are an annual event to celebrate local kebab restaurants across the UK. The awards were founded by 
The British Kebab Awards are organised by Dogus' thinktank, CEFTUS, whose aim is to 'build bridges between Turkey and the UK, and between Turkish, Kurdish and Cypriot communities.' The 2017 awards were held at London's Westminster Park Plaza Hotel in February 2017.
In 2016, Dogus announced a business venture to create the first beer made for drinking with kebabs, Bira London. Dogus stated in the programme to the 2017 British Kebab Awards that he believes that the uncertainty caused by Brexit will create economic problems for small businesses. In comments at the 2017 awards, Dogus paid tribute to "the places around the world which many of us feel an affinity with (that) have been struck by violence".
The 2019 awards were held on March 18 in London. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn attended the 2019 awards, giving a speech in which he said that he liked kebab shops, despite being a vegetarian. "I love having a falafal wrap in a kebab shop", he revealed. Other political guests included Conservative mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey,
The British Kebab Awards (colloquially know as the 'kebabbies') are an annual event to celebrate local kebab restaurants across the UK. The awards were founded by Ibrahim Dogus
Ibrahim Dogus (born July 1980) is an entrepreneur and restaurateur. He is founder of SME4Labour. He is also founder of the Centre for Turkey Studies and Centre for Kurdish Progress, and an active organiser for the Turkish and Kurdish community ...
, an entrepreneur, restaurateur and founder of the Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS), in 2013.
Since their creation, the awards have attracted politicians from different political parties to network and present awards, including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...
and Sadiq Khan
Sadiq Aman Khan (; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting from 2005 until 2016. A member of the Labour Party, Khan is on the party's sof ...
MP in 2016. The awards are sponsored by internet fast food delivery provider Just Eat
Just Eat (formerly known legally as Just Eat plc) is an online food order and delivery brand of Netherlands-based Just Eat Takeaway.com, and a former food delivery company. Just Eat was founded as a separate company in 2001 in Kolding, Denmark ...
, and have attracted significant attention in both traditional and social media, being dubbed the KeBAFTAs by fans on Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
.
Founder Ibrahim Dogus is a former waiter, owner of Troia restaurant in Waterloo, London
Waterloo () is a district in Central London, and part of the Bishops ward of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated east of Charing Cross. The area is part of a business improvement district known as Waterloo Quarter, which includes The ...
, and the son of Kurdish refugees from Turkey who arrived in the UK in 1994. Dogus became a community activist in the early 2000s, and was shot while trying to combat drug crime in Hackney, where he lived.
The British Kebab Awards are organised by Dogus' thinktank, CEFTUS, whose aim is to 'build bridges between Turkey and the UK, and between Turkish, Kurdish and Cypriot communities.' The 2017 awards were held at London's Westminster Park Plaza Hotel in February 2017.
In 2016, Dogus announced a business venture to create the first beer made for drinking with kebabs, Bira London. Dogus stated in the programme to the 2017 British Kebab Awards that he believes that the uncertainty caused by Brexit will create economic problems for small businesses. In comments at the 2017 awards, Dogus paid tribute to "the places around the world which many of us feel an affinity with (that) have been struck by violence".
The 2019 awards were held on March 18 in London. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn attended the 2019 awards, giving a speech in which he said that he liked kebab shops, despite being a vegetarian. "I love having a falafal wrap in a kebab shop", he revealed. Other political guests included Conservative mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey, Angela Rayner
Angela Rayner (' Bowen; born 28 March 1980) is a British politician serving as Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office and Shadow Secretary of State for the Future of Work since 2021. She has been Sha ...
, Bob Seely
Robert William Henry Seely (born 1 June 1966) is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Isle of Wight since June 2017. He was re-elected at the general election in December 2019 with an ...
and Mark Francois
Mark Gino Francois (; born 14 August 1965) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rayleigh and Wickford, previously Rayleigh, since the 2001 general election.
Francois serve ...
. The Mirror noted that the awards ceremony has "become a popular event on the Westminster calendar".
References
{{reflist Food and drink awards Kebabs