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Our Mission and Objectives
To unite the British/Bangladeshi and South Asian caterers and leaders of allied businesses in the United Kingdom under a common platform in order to protect and promote their common interest.
The curry industry plays an important part in the social, cultural and economic life in the UK. In order to represent the interests of the personnel of catering and allied industries in as powerful a way as possible, we need to unite under one platform and speak with one voice.
To further this aim we have become one of the country’s leading campaigning pressure groups, exerting pressure on MPs, government and Whitehall.
Our lobbying arm – led by the Westminster Press and Parliamentary Office - puts the FoBC viewpoint over to the media. We aim to, and have helped to establish, many branches across the towns and cities of the UK so that members can work with the central executive committee.
To be effective we believe that we need to embrace the whole of the British curry industry and work in the interests of all nationalities in the sector. We also work with educational institutes, legal advisors, consultants and students and allied businesses and associations.
As well as working together, we need also to liaise effectively with other lobbying organisations to achieve the aims of the Federation and gain a stronger recognition of the catering sector by government policy makers.
To facilitate research and training programmes for the catering industry.
The curry industry is suffering from a shortage of skilled staff on the ground and we believe the only way to sustain our business is by training and investment at home.
One of the Federation’s key aims is the establishment of training courses for skilled workers in the catering sector across the UK.
Unemployment and educational under-achievement are widespread among the British South Asian community. The presence of a skilled workforce on the ground would alleviate these problems, assist the acute labour shortage within the industry by allowing restaurateurs to recruit locally, and enable the next generation to continue to develop the golden legacy left by their elders. In order to attain this goal, we need to encourage the government to enable skilled chefs from South Asia train workers in the UK.
Since our inception we have been lobbying government to provide nationally recognised training courses across the UK for front and back-of-house staff to recognise the specialist skills attached to these roles. We also intend to work in partnership with colleges to establish courses in fields of Finance, Human Resources, Sales & Marketing, Customer Service and Information Technology.
In schools, we aim to put curry on the curriculum and create opportunities for restaurateurs and chefs to go into the classrooms to present talks, workshops and cookery demonstrations that will inspire the young generation.
We will consider how current skills and qualifications within the framework could be adapted and made more relevant to the sector including looking at Group Training Associations to help SMEs provide training and assessing the role of colleges and specialist centres and the National Skills Academy for Hospitality.
To safeguard and defend the interest of the caterers and other traders with regard to legal aspects such as environmental health, taxation, value added tax and related matters.
During the economic recession restaurants have suffered a significant downturn in revenue although overheads continue to rise. The Federation is committed to delivering a wide range of high quality, good value business services to members of the FoBC.
Many of our members are consultants and specialists from professions outside or within the industry who can offer help and advice to business owners on matters including legal advice, immigration law, taxes, insurance, banking and utility bills. We aim to hold business seminars to demonstrate how restaurateurs can reduce costs and expenditure, consume less energy and reduce the carbon footprint.
To ensure compliance of health, safety and food hygiene, with a view to improving the overall standard of the curry industry in the UK.
Our paramount concern is to ensure that the standard of our sector continues to improve and grow stronger and more profitable. To this end, in partnership with schools and colleges, we aim to provide advice and training in matters relating to health, safety and food hygiene.
Good food hygiene is essential to gain the valued trust of customers and ensure the continued success of a restaurant or catering outlet.
Our specialist consultants are equipped to give guidance to ensure an outlet’s compliancy with food regulations, helping with issues such as paperwork and record keeping, registration and licensing, food safety and consumer protection. We also provide training in health and hygiene for staff members.
On matters of health and safety we advise on the best practice rules, staff training and stock control to ensure that adequate public liability insurance is in place and that a food outlet is adequately prepared for future inspections.
Curry has become the nation’s number one food. We aim to help restaurateurs to produce healthier and greener menus, sourcing products locally, thus reducing the carbon footprint and ensuring the well-being of customers.
To lobby the government and other trade bodies in order to influence their policies favouring the catering industry.
The curry industry contributes approximately £4.5billion to the UK economy and creates 100,000 job opportunities for people across the country. With 12,000 Indian restaurants and fast-food outlets in Britain, curry has become part of our national life.
Our aim is to create a powerful voice to remind the government and other trade organisations of the huge contribution made by Asian people to the fabric of the nation.
This means that we intend to make sure that the restaurant sector is at the political forefront and attains equal importance to other industries in the minds of MPs, Lords, organisations and regulatory bodies.
We remind government on a continued basis, of the key issues affecting the restaurant sector, as relayed to us by our members on the ground. We also work to develop good relations and links with various government departments by means of social and interactive events.
To create awareness of our sector among the people through media and other means.
We understand that the best way to raise the profile of the restaurant industry is through the media and aim to develop our links with national, international and trade publications and national TV networks.
The industry needs to be marketed effectively. With the explosion of new media and continued popularity of the old, we intend to use every avenue to highlight the FoBC’s viewpoint, raise awareness of issues affecting the restaurant industry and protect the industry from adverse publicity. This will be carried out by the circulation of press releases, articles, television coverage and oral communication. We will also advertise our aims through newspapers and magazines, email, social networking and direct mail.
The world press has already attended our events and reported on our campaigns – we aim to build on that awareness and generate positive publicity around our sector.
To participate in food fairs in various parts of the world in order to increase the popularity of Bangladeshi cuisine and its products.
Much of Europe has yet to be persuaded of the qualities of Asian cuisine. With the promotion of our products at international food fairs and festivals we propose to widen the influence of the curry industry and unlock the vast market potential of the Continent for our members by creating job opportunities and businesses abroad.
We need to convince foreign governments that our world famous food can do the same for their economies as it has done for the British economy and, to that end, we plan to organise trade delegations and attend food exhibitions where we can market our products to the right people.
Our belief is that we can only move forward by growing our successful restaurant industry so that it can perform in a world market. That can only be done by taking our cuisine beyond the boundaries of the UK.
To set up joint ventures establishments in other parts of the world.
We have set up and attended meetings with high ranking officials, including members of Dhaka Stock Exchange and the High Commissioner, to discuss investment and mutual cooperation in Bangladesh. Our delegates have held a series of high-profile meetings in Dhaka and Sylhet to encourage trade between our two countries.
We have also been active in calling for the Bangladeshi government to work with us to encourage inward investment.
Our business advisors have been instrumental in urging NRBs to play a positive role in Bangladesh in areas of IT, economics, agriculture, human resources, disaster management, medical science, energy and environment, security and the textiles and garments industry. We are willing to help our members establish links in these sectors with the aim of setting up joint ventures, not only in Bangladesh but the rest of the world.
To keep up to date with current trends in style, decor and food habits and encourage members to follow them.
Vast changes have taken place in the restaurants and cuisine of the UK over the past 40 years and restaurants offering Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and Nepalese cuisine, have changed the eating habits of a nation.
Indian restaurants themselves also need to adapt to cater for higher expectations among diners in terms of food and décor.
In this fast-changing environment, restaurateurs have to stay ahead of the game. We aim to keep ahead of the latest developments in the industry as a whole and update our members on matters such as interior planning, design and menu creation to ensure that our restaurants can compete with the top restaurants in the UK.
To negotiate special deals for members in respect of utilities, insurance, bank and credit card charges and other related matters.
We continue to liaise with financial organisations to provide discounted banking and insurance facilities and talking to utility and supply companies for exclusive rates for our members in the UK and abroad.
We also seek assistance from government to help small businesses and the catering industry in general to alleviate problems of cash flow by short to medium term tax breaks and capping the business tax rate.
In view of the low default rate in the restaurant industry we aim to persuade banks that lending to restaurant businesses is a viable and lucrative prospect. |
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