Rishi Sunak‘s former boss at an Indian restaurant where the Prime Minister waited tables has announced his business has gone into liquidation amid the cost of living crisis.
Kuti Miah – who runs award-winning Kuti’s Brasserie – said he owes £840,000 to creditors as rising inflation has made times ‘very difficult’.
Mr Miah, 62, has known the 42-year-old Prime Minister since he was two years old.
As a teenager, Sunak did unpaid shifts as a waiter at Mr Miah’s restaurant in Southampton ‘just for fun’.
Kuti Miah – who runs the award-winning Kuti’s Brasserie in Southampton – said rising inflation has made times ‘very difficult’
As a teenager, the Prime Minister waited tables at the restaurant ‘just for fun’
Mr Miah is a family friend of the Sunaks, and the former chancellor held his wedding reception there in 2009
The Winchester College pupil was said to be excellent at clearing tables, never dropped any plates and was an ‘expert’ at adding up customers’ bills before he went on to study PPE at the University of Oxford.
Mr Miah is a family friend of the Sunaks, and the former chancellor held his wedding reception there in 2009.
Mr Miah has previously told how the Sunak family have regularly celebrated Christmas at his restaurant.
Mr Miah added that Mr Sunak was ‘a people person’ who loved ‘talking to customers’.
Mr Miah previously told local paper the Daily Echo: ‘I’ve known Rishi since he was a little baby. His father Yashvir is my very good friend.
‘He grew up in front of me and I always said Rishi is going to be an important person because he was so very clever and nice.
‘They’ve never missed Christmas Eve here for the last 25 years.’
The company behind Kuti’s Brasserie is Joytun Bari Ltd, which Mr Miah is a director of.
He said it has been put into voluntary liquidation.
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Companies House filings show Joytun Bari Ltd owes £338,214.04 to HMRC, as well as more than £270,000 to Mr Miah himself, £40,000 to Southampton City Council and £40,000 to Barclays Bank.
Imran Brothers Ltd of Poole, Dorset, is owed £46,000 while Khosla Wines of Hayes is owed £34,000.
Mr Miah told how the Sunak family have regularly celebrated Christmas at his restaurant
Asiatic Limited of Barking in Essex is due £20,000, Euro Foods in South Wales £34,600 and Gandhi Oriental Foods of Barking is owed £13,000.
Mr Miah said he ‘loves his customers like family’ and spoke about the financial difficulties.
He said: ‘It’s not easy to survive these things.
‘I have been surviving for generations. The restaurant will remain open, people can still come and eat with us.
‘I have worked hard for 43 years and now we are in a global crisis.’
Although he described the cost of living crisis as ‘very, very difficult’, he said he remains a ‘positive person’. He also said that the restaurant will remain open and in business.
Kuti Miah outside his restaurant, which was fined for flouting Covid restrictions in 2020
A special resolution was made that Joytun Bari be wound up voluntarily.
The restaurant has scooped a number of national awards, including being named Best Spice Restaurant in the British Curry Awards.
In November 2020, the restaurant was fined for flouting coronavirus restrictions by hosting a wedding party of more than 30 people.
Police issued the £1,000 fixed penalty notice after it breached the curbs which banned receptions of more than 15 people.
Officers slammed the ‘clear disregard for requirements there to protect the whole community’ and also fined the 39-year-old groom £200 for breaching the rule of six.
PC Brian Swallow, of Hampshire Constabulary’s Force Licensing Team, said at the time: ‘It is very disappointing that a licensed premises has been in breach of the clear guidelines around hospitality that are designed to keep customers safe and limit the spread not only among patrons but the community as a whole.
‘We understand that many people have missed out on socialising and celebrating this year, but this demonstrated a clear disregard for the requirements that are there to protect the whole community during this very difficult time.’
