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Restaurant tycoon pledges £25M to east Manchester

2/11/2007

ASIAN tycoon Iqbal Ahmed has vowed to Stand Up for East Manchester and invest another £25m in the area if the Supercasino does not happen.

He has put his money where his mouth is and challenged the government to bring another 'big impact' project to the area.

Mr Ahmed is drawing up plans for a hotel development next to Vermillion & Cinnabar, his £5m Thai restaurant and bar on Hulme Hall Lane, close to the City of Manchester Stadium.

He said: "Despite what has happened with the Supercasino I will continue to invest in east Manchester.

"This city has helped me to do well and I am determined that I will put something back into it."

Mr Ahmed, 51, who made his fortune from seafood processing - he and brothers Kamal and Bilal built up the Seamark Group - sees the move into the leisure sector as a natural extension of the family business.

"We know the food sector well, and I think our success over time has been because we have not diversified beyond it."

Vermillion & Cinnabar will open on 14 November at a star-studded launch party.

It will be managed by Mr Ahmed's son, Manzur, 25.

The hotel scheme is further down the line, and will represent the most ambitious phase of the investment plan.

Mr Ahmed, who was awarded an OBE for services to international trade in 2001, said: "The first phase was the new distribution and trade centre for our company Ibco, the second is the restaurant, and the final stage is the hotel. We're looking at a 240 bedroom business hotel development.

"We're at an early stage but we've hired a consultant to help us draw up the plan. We want to create something really special for Manchester."

He said he had earmarked between £25m to £30m for the project.