Traditional curry houses could be facing final orders

CURRY houses will start to disappear from high streets because the Asian community is too insular and fails to spot competition, a senior industry figure has warned.

Yawar Khan, the head of the Asian Catering Federation, predicted that one in two curry houses – 17,000 restaurants – would close within 10 years due to a failure to respond to changing customer demands. He also warned owners not to ignore modern technology and problems including chef shortages and rising costs.

The federation represents more than 35,000 establishments. Approximately nine in 10 curry restaurants in the UK are Bangladeshi-owned.

Mr Khan said: “British Bangladeshis can be very insular and inward-looking. We fail to regard other cuisines as competition and we are slow to adopt new marketing opportunities, such as social media platforms. For years we have been telling restaurants they need to up their game with shorter menus, offering lighter healthier options with more fish and vegetable dishes, with genuinely authentic regional food.”