When Perween Warsi set up S&A Foods in 1986, she was 30 years old and had two sons aged eight and 10.
Having arrived in the UK in the 1970s, she had spent many years feeling frustrated and disappointed at the poor quality of Indian snack food available in supermarkets. “It was tasteless, it was boring and it wasn’t authentic,” she says. Despite her lack of business experience, she was convinced she could do better. “I realised that the market was there,” she says. “People were prepared to enjoy Indian food and therefore they deserved to eat good quality, authentic Indian food.”
Ms Warsi had always been good at cooking, and, with some family funding, began preparing and selling the snacks herself. S&A Foods grew quickly, winning contracts to supply the supermarket chains Asda and Safeway, so she soon took on two chefs to allow her to concentrate on running the business. Despite the rapid growth, she has never compromised on quality, she says, and the company has always used fresh ingredients and authentic recipes.
In 1987, she and her husband sold the company to the Hughes Food group as a way of raising additional funds to build a factory. (They later bought the company back when Hughes
Food folded.) The first factory was built in Derby in 1989, and employed 100 people. Today S&A Foods employs 700 people and has a turnover of approximately US$130m.
Ms Warsi doesn’t feel that her sex has been a disadvantage or an advantage. “Being yourself and having confidence in your product is far more important than whether you’re a woman or a man,” she says. “What matters is that you know what you’re doing and where you’re going, and you know that your products are better and different and you have the right people.”
Business success depends, she believes, on the ability to focus attention on a number of different things at the same time: “You have to think about where you’re going, and what your goals are, but at the same time you must communicate that to other people. It’s a lot to do with managing people, and a lot to do with understanding your market.”
It has sometimes been hard, she says, to manage family life as well as running a business, but she has had plenty of help from her husband, a full-time GP, and her friends. She has also found formal support networks very useful. “Networking is vital in business. It’s very important to exchange views and ideas and learn from each other, because not everybody has all the knowledge and all the contacts you need.”
S&A Foods has diversified into supplying Thai, Malaysian and Chinese food, and also exports to France and Germany. Despite a dip in turnover in recent years, Ms Warsi plans to continue expanding the business. Her advice to other entrepreneurs, male and female alike, is to have a clear vision. “Know where you’re going,” she says. “Be confident about your products, that they’re different and unique. Be yourself, and be open to learning. Employ the right people who are passionate about the business, who are capable and who take pride in delivering.”
