LEYTON: Salim and Horukul curry favour with Hall dragons

8:42am Sunday 25th November 2007

Comments (0)   Have your say »

A DRAGON'S Den-style contest has produced a winner for our Great Hall competition.

Salim Rahman and Horukul Islam willl use the magnificent venue at the former Leyton Municipal Offices in High Road as a function room, which will run alongside a restaurant on the ground floor.

Last-minute entrants, the partners produced a scheme which won over the six judges who subjected the finalists to an intense grilling about their proposals.

The aim was to find a tenant for the hall in the listed building, extensively restored to its Victorian glory by Lee Valley Estates and Hiltongrove Business Space at a cost of more than £10 million.

Much of the building is given over to a new Legacy Business Centre, but finding a good tenant for the Great Hall on the upper floor proved a tough challenge. Mr Islam told the Guardian: "We were certain about the space matching our ideas but we had to get a very sound business plan together in such a short time. I didn't see my kids for a week."

The partners aim to create a contemporary restaurant serving healthy Indian food and also run a coffee shop with a juice bar.

The Great Hall will be rented out for social and corporate events.

Guy Davis, chairman of Hiltongrove, said: "We were really interested in several of the ideas put forward, but Horukul and Salim clearly had the edge."

Michael Polledri, chairman of Lee Valley Estates, added: "It's just what we were looking for - imaginative proposals which make sound commercial sense.

The other dragons' were council leader Clyde Loakes, Guardian editor Pat Stannard, Gary Ince, chief executive of North London Business and Gary Walker, chairman of RSA Island Village Ltd and group director of Lee Valley Estates.