Tariq Halal Meats opens up franchise shops thanks to NatWest

Now run by Tariq Sheikh, the Wembley-based family business was set up in 1965 by his butcher father. Using his customer service experience in fast food and the restaurant sector, Tariq came into the business in the 1980s where he grew the wholesale side of the business and sold the shops.

Tariq is now returning to the retail side and working closely with Kunal Patel, Relationship Manager for NatWest in Thames Gateway, enabling Tariq’s nephew Vaqaas Sethi to take on a double-fronted shop in Leyton – the third franchise.

The Leyton branch has undergone a huge transformation and is now a state-of-the-art shop with digital menus, Italian-designed fridges and German scales. As demand in the first two shops has been so great, a queuing system has already been implemented.

Since it started franchising, Tariq Halal has created 70 new jobs, 25 of them in Leyton. With a strong focus on employee training, franchisees are trained in-house, so they need not have a butchery background. Vaqaas has undergone management training and spent six months working within the business.

Tariq Halal is one of the best-known names in the Halal meat industry thanks to their commitment to supplying quality, yet affordable, Halal meat and poultry to the UK market. As well as fresh meat, they have their own brand of frozen products.

A fourth shop is opening shortly in South Harrow and each branch is expected to turnover about £50,000 a week. Five shops are predicted by the end of the year and 25 by 2015. Expansion is also planned for France and Denmark.

Tariq said: We really wanted to work with a bank who understood our desire to move Halal with the times and franchise modern, clean shops. Having been recommended to me, Kunal Patel at NatWest has far exceeded our expectations and he has been very supportive in helping our business grow.