The troubled past, present and future of Eat Indian
PLUS: Multiversity decision made and our recommendations for the week ahead
Hello and welcome to The Blackpool Lead.
This week we resume our reporting on an eatery that bagged a zero hygiene rating from Blackpool Council within a few weeks of opening last year.
When that was brought to light by reporting from The Blackpool Lead, it was expected the business would quickly improve. But it took until 23 December for another inspection to take place with the eatery sitting a legally-unsafe-but-still-trading zero in the meantime.
Before we begin on this, it’s very important to note that it’s with reluctance that we report on troubles in the hospitality industry, which is under enough strain as it is.
However, matters of public safety - as this was - do need to be reported and the public also deserve to spend their money in an informed way. We are co-publishing today’s investigation alongside our sister title The Lancashire Lead.
Elsewhere, compulsory purchase orders have been approved for the Multiversity project. We reported extensively on the inquiry late last year - the only title in Blackpool to do so - and we will have more on the reaction to the decision in future editions.
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Eat Indian could face legal action over continued hygiene issues in Blackpool
By Jamie Lopez, with additional reporting by Luke Beardsworth
Eight months after a Blackpool takeaway was slapped with a zero star hygiene rating, it was finally reassessed - but only improved to two out of five.
The new rating for Eat Indian, the basic level needed to cross the legal threshold, means it is still considered as needing improvement and it is likely to face another inspection to ensure standards are still passable.
The Blackpool Lead first reported on the takeaway’s hygiene and cleanliness issues in September, when things were so bad soon after opening that it closed down to address serious concerns from council officials.
We now understand that legal action is being considered as a result of the first dismal inspection of Eat Indian, a takeaway whose owners pride themselves on “the care and attention to detail when it comes to making food for our customers”.
By the time it opened in Blackpool, the business had grown from a market stall to having shops in Lancaster, Preston and Kendal. But while its website made promises of high standards, behind the scenes a very different picture was emerging.
First came prosecutions for hygiene breaches at the Lancaster warehouse which supplied the Lancaster, Preston and Kendal, then the Blackpool shop was slapped with a zero star hygiene rating.
The owners initially tried to explain the closure which followed that assessment as being related to a burst water tank issue with that version of events published in The Gazette, only for the truth to be uncovered by The Blackpool Lead.
In recent weeks, the Preston store has become embroiled in an issue over rent payments as a bitter war of words broke out between Eat Indian and the charity ‘Trustees for Roman Catholic Purposes Registered’ which owned the building. It has since relocated to another unit on the same road, replacing a Greek restaurant which opened earlier that year and appears to have ownership links with Eat Indian.
The Blackpool Lead approached Eat Indian to ask questions about the issues afflicting the business. As part of a longer response, the business’s sole director Fuzail Patel said the business is “committed to maintaining the highest standards of food quality, hygiene, and customer satisfaction across all our locations”. They added that they have worked to improve on previous “challenges”.
Eat Indian’s first run-in with authorities came as a result of a series of visits to the unit at Lansil Industrial Estate which supplied the three shops it was then operating. According to Lancaster City Council, repeated inspections identified poor standards at the premises.
These issues included poor controls in place for cooling food, storage of waste, cleanliness and maintenance, hand washing, transport of food and non-compliance with statutory notices served to seek improved standards at the premises.
As a result, Mr Patel pleaded guilty to 12 Food Safety and Hygiene offences and was ordered to pay more than £14,000 in fines and court costs.
Speaking after that prosecution in September 2023, Cllr Joanne Ainscough, cabinet member with responsibility for environmental health and enforcement at Lancaster City Council, said: “Our environmental health team is committed to ensuring food standards remain high in the Lancaster district to safeguard our residents and visitors.
“Poor food hygiene standards can pose a serious threat to public health and we will not hesitate in taking action against businesses who fall short of legal food safety and hygiene requirements.”
In Blackpool, the chain’s fourth location opened in the summer of 2024. On social media, bosses proudly proclaimed the new opening came in response to “countless requests from our local community”.
Within days though, inspectors from Blackpool Council issued the lowest possible hygiene score - zero stars - after finding a range of faults at the shop.
As The Blackpool Lead reported last September, issues cited by inspectors “included placing containers in a pool of blood present in the fridge, hands not being washed and no surfaces being cleaned in the entirety of a one-hour visit and a lack of awareness of cross-contamination risks.”
Other issues included food being stored on the floor, employees wearing sandals, vegetables on the fire escape stairs and raw meat being left uncovered.
Eat Indian was served with a Hygiene Improvement Notice by Blackpool Council and told to remedy the issues by 1 August - or face prosecution. The owners then voluntarily closed its doors but at the time told The Gazette it had done so due to a burst water pipe.
After making some improvements, it was able to reopen only with permission from council officers.
While the council must reinspect a zero star venue within three months of being requested to do so, Blackpool Council only issued a new rating some eight months later.
The Blackpool Lead understands this delay was at the hands of the business and not the council, while the two star rating - which is classified as “improvement necessary” and was awarded in December - remains a point of concern among authority officials.
While it is not a legal requirement to do so, Blackpool Council typically revisits two star premises within four weeks for another assessment but does not issue a fresh rating. The Blackpool Lead also understands that legal action is being considered as a result of the findings of the first inspection.
When asked about the issues at the Blackpool store and if he was content with the two star rating, Mr Patel said this shop was an independently-operated franchise
He continued: “However, we have still worked closely with them to support improvements. While we acknowledge past challenges, we have worked diligently to improve and ensure we meet and exceed expectations.
“Regarding hygiene ratings, we have taken significant steps to address the concerns raised in Blackpool. Since the initial assessment, we have implemented enhanced training for staff, upgraded our processes, and worked closely with local authorities to ensure full compliance.
“The improvement from zero to two stars is a reflection of these efforts, and we remain committed to further progress. We fully intend to request a reinspection at the appropriate time, as our goal is to achieve the highest possible rating.
“Our experience with Blackpool Council has been constructive. We engaged proactively with them throughout the process and took all necessary actions to rectify the issues highlighted. The timing of the reinspection was subject to council availability and our internal readiness to demonstrate substantial improvements, ensuring that all corrective measures were thoroughly implemented before seeking reassessment.”
While all four outlets are managed as different entities - according to Companies House - they all fall under the directorship of Mr Patel.
In Preston, problems of a different kind occurred just before Christmas 2024 when the shop was suddenly closed down by its landlords. On that occasion, a sign was posted in the window which explained the lease had been forfeited.
Subsequent reporting by Blog Preston highlighted differing versions of the events.
According to Eat Indian, the business had already left the site due higher rent being demanded and a failure to reach an agreement both parties were happy with.
However, a spokesperson for the landlord said the problem actually dated back to January 2024, when Eat Indian Preston Limited was dissolved as a company and Mr Patel took on a temporary tenancy agreement.
They said the dissolution legally ended the original agreement and that Mr Patel had built up arrears during the temporary tenancy. While they were willing to allow the business to continue operating on the same terms, they said, this would only be allowed provided the arrears were repaid.
The spokesperson said: “As the occupier was not able or willing to do this, and as there were certain compliance obligations relating to fire safety in the property that they had not met, we took possession of the premises on 23 December.
“The landlord is a registered charity, and the property is held for investment purposes. It is therefore a requirement under the Charities Act to seek the best financial return for the charity from such a property.”
Once the article was published, a representative for Eat Indian accused Blog Preston of posting “absolutely bulshit” but when asked to if they wished to add any context or a statement, replied that “I don’t need to prove to you or the public what’s gone on behind closed doors, I’ve got everything in black and white that’s enough for me”.
Eat Indian was then able to reopen when it took over another site on the same street, one which had previously been occupied by a restaurant called Greekos.
While it is not clear whether the quick changeover was made possible by a link between Greekos and Eat Indian, Companies House records show that the sole owners of each company - Yasin Muta Patel and Fuzail Patel - had a shared directorship in a third business named Junction 51 Limited.
When asked about this, Fuzail Patel told The Blackpool Lead: “As for Greekos, it is a separate business with its own operational considerations. Any changes in its status were based on independent business decisions rather than any direct link to Eat Indian’s continued operations.
“Our focus remains on delivering high-quality Indian cuisine to our customers across the region.”
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Approval for Multiversity project’s compulsory purchase orders
By Shelagh Parkinson
Work is set to begin this summer to build Blackpool’s £65m multiversity after a planning inspector gave the go ahead for the council to buy up the rest of the site.
A compulsory purchase order (CPO) has been approved by independent planning inspector Phillip Ware following a public inquiry held over two weeks last November and December at the Imperial Hotel.
The decision paves the way for the council to acquire the remaining properties ahead of clearance of the area between Cookson Street, Milbourne Street, George Street and Grosvenor Street.
The land will be redeveloped as a new education campus for Blackpool and the Fylde College, bringing up to 3,000 students and staff into the town centre and expected to open in late 2027.
There had been 13 objections lodged against the CPO, but Nick Gerrard, head of the council’s Growth and Prosperity team, warned plans for the multiversity would have “to go back to the drawing board” if the chosen site was ruled out.
Council leader Coun Lynn Williams said: “The multiversity is a major part of our plans to make Blackpool better, by bringing thousands of students into the town centre, creating a more vibrant town centre economy and jobs for local people.
“Over the last two years, our staff have worked exceptionally hard to buy properties and support the people who have had to move house as a result.
“There are some properties where we haven’t been able to agree a price so far with the owners and the compulsory purchase order process means they would be independently valued to determine a final price if we are unable to reach agreement.”
More than 80 per cent of the required 72 properties have already been acquired and negotiations will continue, but the CPO gives the council stronger powers to ensure construction can start in the summer.
This has been a lengthy edition of The Blackpool Lead so we’re going to go straight into our recommendations for the week ahead for paid subscribers. Thank you for reading and we’ll speak to you soon.
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