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Tea for Two as Cook Goes from Waiter to MD of Ashoka Shaks

HARLEQUIN RESTAURANTS' chief executive Sanjay Majhu's first position at the company was working as a waiter at Ashoka Johnstone where one of his most important tasks was to make a cup of tea in a tall slim jim each morning for his boss, Sukhvir 'Cook' Gill (a sobriquet that recognises his extraordinary talent with a tandoor).

The tables had turned considerably when, last year, Sanjay took over Harlequin Restaurants, effectively becoming Cook's boss, and found himself unable to prevent his eyes from wandering towards the kettle in his head office whenever he had a business meeting with Cook.

Today, however, the tables look to be turning again, and Sanjay is having to get used to the idea that he might soon have to rush out to buy Tetley teabags from the local supermarket for Cook's cups of tea again - just like in the good old days.

In reality, though, Sanjay is perfectly content with that prospect - having observed with pride Cook's inexorable rise through the ranks of the curry empire; a rise that now sees Cook's appointment as managing director of all four of Harlequin's Ashoka Shaks at Livingston, Coatbridge, Linwood and Dundee. 'Cook has always been one of the best operators we've had at Harlequin,' said Sanjay. 'I'm convinced that, on both an entrepreneurial and an operational level, Cook is set to become one of the biggest players in Indian restaurants in Scotland and throughout the UK.'

Cook joined Harlequin in 1988 as a full-time waiter in the Ashoka West End before spending time in most of Harlequin's restaurants at one time or another. A chef to trade, he is still frequently found cooking curries at the Ashoka Johnstone, which he took over four years ago. Cook now aims to develop and roll out the Ashoka Shak brand throughout Scotland, under Sanjay's watchful eye.'My chief focus is customer service,' he said. 'And I've developed an expansion plan that will see a further three Ashoka Shak's open in Scotland over the course of the next year. Indeed, I'm already considering several possible locations which, following the tried and tested Shak strategy, are situated within leisure park sites alongside established fast food facilities.'

Cook also has plans to involve his family in the development of the Ashoka Shak enterprise. His wife Jean already handles all his bookkeeping whilst his daughters, Rebecca and Demi, often help out on Saturday evenings at the Ashoka Johnstone. And if things at Ashoka Shak go according to plan, Sanjay will no doubt delight in brewing his colleague the odd cup of tea!