New owners at Coriander’s
The new owners of a Canterbury restaurant chain say they have saved about 30 jobs as the former owner faces exploitation charges.
Amar Deep Singh built a mini empire of Coriander’s Ethnic Indian Restaurants over the past 12 years but his assets were frozen in December, leaving workers at his three Canterbury restaurants with uncertain futures.
A trio of family friends and businessmen – Gaurav Soni, Harpal Singh and Ranjeet Singh – have since taken over the central
Christchurch, Upper Riccarton and Rolleston restaurants.
The three Singhs are not related to each other and Amar Deep Singh has lived in India since January 2019.
Investigations over several months by the Labour Inspectorate found employees had been ‘‘systematically underpaid and abused’’ under his leadership. His assets were frozen to make sure funds were available for payment of arrears and ‘‘significant penalties’’, if needed.
A judge made a variation on the freezing order on January 31, allowing a sale to proceed.
Managing director Soni said he was aware of the controversy the restaurants faced under Amar Deep Singh. ‘‘We want to say it is the same brand, same taste, same food team run by different business professionals.’’ They offered jobs to all 30 current workers and only one declined, Soni said.
Amar Deep Singh also owned Coriander’s in Hanmer Springs but this changed hands last year and is now called Coriander Leaf.
A hearing on the exploitation charges is scheduled for
May 19-20.