Curry king Sir Gulam Noon has spoken of the horror of being caught up in the terror attacks in Mumbai that left nearly 200 dead, including leading industry figure Andreas Liveras.
Sir Gulam had booked a table in the Taj Mahal Palace hotel's restaurant, but after feeling ill decided to have dinner in his hotel room at the last minute.
The Noon Products founder was trapped in his room with his brother and two Indian associates until 6am.
"It was a horrific experience, not something I would wish on my worst enemy," said Sir Gulam, who grew up in the city. However, he added: "I still have a number of work interests here and nothing is going to deter me from continuing to visit India."
Also staying at the Taj were Bob Carnell and Peter Dillane, senior directors at Kerry Foods, the company that bought Noon Products in 2005. Sir Gulam was telling them about investment possibilities in India.
The board of Unilever, including outgoing CEO Patrick Cescau and his successor Paul Polman, also managed to narrowly escape from the attack on the Taj.
However, Liveras lost his life there. He was a self-made millionaire who made his name by buying the Fleur de Lys bakery for £2,500 and ended up selling it to Express Dairies in 1985 for £10m. He then sold his next venture, cake maker Laurens Patisseries, to Bakkavör for £130m.
Sir Gulam had booked a table in the Taj Mahal Palace hotel's restaurant, but after feeling ill decided to have dinner in his hotel room at the last minute.
The Noon Products founder was trapped in his room with his brother and two Indian associates until 6am.
"It was a horrific experience, not something I would wish on my worst enemy," said Sir Gulam, who grew up in the city. However, he added: "I still have a number of work interests here and nothing is going to deter me from continuing to visit India."
Also staying at the Taj were Bob Carnell and Peter Dillane, senior directors at Kerry Foods, the company that bought Noon Products in 2005. Sir Gulam was telling them about investment possibilities in India.
The board of Unilever, including outgoing CEO Patrick Cescau and his successor Paul Polman, also managed to narrowly escape from the attack on the Taj.
However, Liveras lost his life there. He was a self-made millionaire who made his name by buying the Fleur de Lys bakery for £2,500 and ended up selling it to Express Dairies in 1985 for £10m. He then sold his next venture, cake maker Laurens Patisseries, to Bakkavör for £130m.
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