Tariq Halal Meats, one of London’s largest halal butcher chains, has added a new warehouse and butcher’s shop to its operations, with the help of a £1m loan from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking.
The new Wembley warehouse, which is three times the size of the company’s previous facilities, and the Hounslow butcher’s shop have created 15 jobs. A butcher’s academy at the Wembley site will also be launched later this year to train aspiring halal butchers.
Tariq Shekh, who opened his first warehouse in 2004 and now supplies more than 300 butcher’s shops across in London, said: “The progress Tariq Halal Meats has made over the past few years has been phenomenal and we are now one of the leading providers of high-quality halal produce in Greater London.
“Growing the business is a top priority for us and we knew that we would need to stop renting our existing warehouses and instead purchase the freehold to a new site in order to do this. Not only has this meant we are now able to increase our stock, but as we are no longer renting, we have also been able to invest more capital into launching our new butcher’s shop in Hounslow, which opened this month.”
The Hounslow butcher’s shop is the company’s fifth store to open its doors, and a further two will open in Streatham and Fulham next month. The new additions are part of an overall strategy to open 25 shops over the next three years.
Shekh added: “The support from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking has been instrumental in this latest phase of our development. Without the funding and guidance from the relationship team, none of this would have been possible and we’re really looking forward to working with them as we launch our new Fulham and Streatham sites.”
Brendon Shanahan, relationship director at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “Tariq is a fantastic example of an ambitious and driven business owner. He identified a need for high-quality, modern halal stores and has turned this into a very successful enterprise. The new warehouse will really enhance his capacity and will also allow him to operate much more efficiently compared to when he was based out of three separate sites.”