Shanta Gaury Pathak (née Pandit; 2 February 1927 – 23 November 2010) was a British businesswoman of Indo-Ugandan descent, and the co-founder, alongside her husband Laxmishanker Pathak, of the

Patak's Patak's is a UK brand of Indian-style curry pastes, sauces and spices. It was founded in 1957 by wife-and-husband team Gujarati-British entrepreneurs Shanta Pathak and Lakshmishankar Pathak, who came to Britain, penniless, with their family ...

brand of Indian-style curry pastes, sauces and spices.

Early life

Pathak was born Shanta Gaury Pathak Pandit to Gujarati parents in

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

, on 2 February 1927. In 1945, she married Laxmishanker Pathak, who in 1938 had emigrated from

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

in British India to

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

, Kenya, where his eldest brother had a small business making sweets and samosas for the city's burgeoning Indian population. With the onset of the

Mau Mau Uprising The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the ''Mau Mau'', an ...

, and increasing hostility, the Pathaks set sail on the passenger ship

SS Uganda A number of ships were named ''Uganda'', including - *, a British cargo liner torpedoed and sunk in 1918. *, a British cargo ship torpedoed and sunk in 1918. *, a British cargo ship built by Harland and Wolff Harland & Wolff is a British shi ...

, stopping in Kenya and Marseilles, to England in 1956, reaching London with just £5.

Career

Patak's papadums, paste pot and Curry paste in 2018">Curry_paste.html" ;"title="papadums, paste pot and Curry paste">papadums, paste pot and

St Pancras Council, Pathak decided the family should start a similar business to that they had in Kenya, running a kitchen from their Queen's Crescent Market">Queen's Crescent Queen's Crescent Market is an outdoor street market held every Thursday and Saturday on Queen's Crescent in Kentish Town, Camden between the junction with Malden Road in the West and the junction with Grafton Road in the East. Licences to trad ...

flat in Kentish Town. Progress was slow, and it was several years until they had enough money to buy a small shop close to Euston Station, followed by another in 1961, in Bayswater. In 1962, their neighbours complained about the noise and smell, and the Council gave them three months to find alternative premises. They found a converted mill in Brackley, Northamptonshire, and left London. Later, they relocated to Lancashire. Over time, the business grew to have an annual turnover of £55 million, and in 2007 was taken over by

Associated British Foods Associated British Foods plc (ABF) is a British multinational food processing and retailing company headquartered in London, England. Its ingredients division is the world's second-largest producer of both sugar and baker's yeast and a major pr ...

for a sum estimated to be between £100- and £200 million.

Personal life

They had four sons and two daughters. Her husband died in 1997, but the will he left was unclear, and there were long-running family disputes and various acrimonious court cases.

Later life

Pathak died of heart failure on 23 November 2010, at the

Royal Bolton Hospital The Royal Bolton Hospital is an acute general hospital in Farnworth, Greater Manchester. It is managed by the Bolton NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital was established as a fever hospital and built adjacent to the 'Fishpool Workhouse' in ...

, Farnworth, Bolton, and was survived by her six children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pathak, Shanta Gaury 1927 births 2010 deaths British women business executives British businesspeople of Indian descent Zanzibari people of Indian descent British company founders People from Greater Manchester