Gulam Kaderbhoy Noon, Baron Noon, 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
Early life
Noon was born in 1936, into a Dawoodi Bohra 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.
Career
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 and knighted in 2002. Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn said that awarding knighthoods to party donors, like Noon, would devalue the whole honours system. Noon was a declared backer of the Britain in Europe group, a pro-Europeanpressure group and as a former trustee of the Maimonides Foundation, a charitable organisation promoting dialogue between Jews and Muslims. He was awarded an Honorary Degree from the University of East London on 12 November 2009. In January 2013, Lord Noon was appointed as the chancellor of the University of East London.
Personal life
A "castaway" on the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs in 2004, in The Sunday Times Rich List 2006 he was placed in 888th position with an estimated fortune of £65 million. He died of cancer on 27 October 2015.
Views on extremist imams
Noon was among those trapped in the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel by terrorists, during the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, but was rescued and later appeared on BBC News to describe his experiences. He subsequently praised the response by India's Muslim community to the attacks, saying: He also called for Britain to toughen measures against extremist Muslim preachers, and said that the door was open for foreign imams to radicalise young Muslims in mosques across Britain: He died of cancer on 27 October 2015.
