Iqbal Wahhab, OBE ( bn, ইকবাল ওয়াহাব; born 22 August 1963) is a Bangladeshi-born British businessman. He is the founder of '' Tandoori Magazine'', and restaurants The Cinnamon Club and Roast.

Background and career

Wahhab was born in

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

, (now Bangladesh) and arrived in the United Kingdom at the age of eight months. He was educated in London and is a graduate of the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

. After working as a journalist in the national press for three years, in 1991 he set up his own PR firm which specialised in food, drink and restaurants and then in 1994 he launched ''Tandoori Magazine''. In 2001, Wahhab sold out of the magazine to launch The Cinnamon Club, an Indian restaurant and bar aimed at changing the way the British view Indian dining. The opening of it was troublesome but it became at the time the world's most successful Indian restaurant in terms of revenue. Taken from the book ''Starting Your Own Restaurant'' (Crimson Publishing) In 2003, he co-authored ''The Cinnamon Club Cookbook'' with Chef Vivek Singh and in 2005 opened Roast, a restaurant in

Borough Market Borough Market is a wholesale and retail market hall in Southwark, London, England. It is one of the largest and oldest food markets in London, with a market on the site dating back to at least the 12th century. The present buildings were bui ...

presenting traditional British food with an emphasis on "using the best of British seasonal produce". From 2012, Wahhab became chair of the

Department for Work and Pensions , type = Department , seal = , logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg , logo_width = 166px , formed = , preceding1 = , jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom , headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...

' Ethnic Minority Advisory Group, set up to discuss ways to reduce

ethnic minority The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...

unemployment levels; he sat on a task force with six ministers to formulate policies to this end. In 2012, he was invited to

Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British chef, restaurateur, television personality and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall; it currently holds a tot ...

's Bad Boys Bakery lunch at

Brixton Prison HM Prison Brixton is a local men's prison, located in Brixton area of the London Borough of Lambeth, in inner-South London. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. History The prison was originally built in 1820 and opened a ...

. He is patron of a

social enterprise A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners. Social enterprises ca ...

set up at

Pentonville Prison HM Prison Pentonville (informally "The Ville") is an English Category B men's prison, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Pentonville Prison is not in Pentonville, but is located further north, on the Caledonian Road in the Barnsbury ar ...

Liberty Kitchen Liberty Kitchen is a social enterprise based at HM Prison Pentonville, London. It exists to train prisoners in high-quality food preparation, and to employ ex-prisoners to sell this food at street markets. Its intention is to open up opportuniti ...

. From 2018 to 2021 he was chairman of the EQUAL advisory group that aims to address race inequality in the UK criminal justice system.

Awards and recognition

In 2009, Wahhab was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the

2009 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2009 were announced on 31 December 2008 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Christopher and Nevis,Saint Christopher. to ...

for his public service and services to the hospitality industry. In 2010, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts. In 2019 he was made

High Sheriff of Greater London The office of high sheriff, as the monarch's representative in a county, is over 1,000 years old, with its establishment before the Norman Conquest. The office of high sheriff remained first in precedence in each county until the reign of Edward ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wahhab, Iqbal 1963 births Living people Bangladeshi Muslims English Muslims Bangladeshi emigrants to England English restaurateurs Bangladeshi businesspeople Businesspeople from London People from the London Borough of Wandsworth Alumni of the London School of Economics Officers of the Order of the British Empire Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom High Sheriffs of Greater London

Background and career

Awards and recognition

See also

References