Gulam Noon
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The Right Honourable The Lord Noon MBE |
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|---|---|
| Member of the House of Lords | |
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In office 31 January 2011 – 27 October 2015 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Gulam Kaderbhoy Noon 24 January 1936 Bombay, India |
| Died | 27 October 2015 (aged 79) London, England |
| Citizenship | British |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Political party | Labour |
Gulam Kaderbhoy Noon, Baron Noon, MBE (24 January 1936 – 27 October 2015) was a British businessman originally from Mumbai, India. Known as the "Curry King", Noon operated a number of food product companies in Southall, London. He was a member of the Dawoodi Bohra Ismaili Shia community
Noon was born in 1936, into a Muslim family which operated a sweet shop in Bombay. His father died when he was 7, and a relative ran the business until Noon took over its management at the age of 17. He renamed the shop "Royal Sweets", and expanded its clientele and size until it was capable of exporting internationally.
In 1964, Noon travelled to Britain and emigrated permanently in 1972. He established a sweet shop in Southall, producing such products as Bombay mix.
Noon founded and operated a number of food product companies in Southall, London, specialising in Indian cuisine. His main business was Noon Products which he established in September 1987, manufacturing chilled and frozen Indian and Thai ready meals, predominantly for UK supermarkets. Whilst he didn't invent the dish, Noon is credited with the popularity of chicken tikka masala in Britain.
In 1994, the company experienced a serious factory fire which destroyed much of its manufacturing capability, however within ten weeks of this fire the company had begun selling its products again. Noon kept all his staff in employment during this period.
In 2005, Noon Products was taken over by Irish food conglomerate Kerry Group.
In March 2006 he came to wider notice as one of the businessmen embroiled in the "Cash for Peerages" scandal when it emerged that he had loaned £250,000 to the Labour Party. He was given an MBE for services to the food industry in 1994 (under a Conservative government) and knighted in 2002. Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn said that awarding knighthoods to party donors, like Noon, would devalue the whole honours system.
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