BUSINESS NEWS: Speed networking and Indian food offer from Moorkhana

SMALL firms in West Somerset and Taunton Deane are being given a quick and fun opportunity to find new suppliers or win new orders from local businesses while tucking into an Indian meal at the same time.
Mignon and Andrew Johnson, who run newly-opened Indian restaurant Moorkhana, in Wiveliscombe, have teamed up for the occasion with speed networking facilitator Rachel Sweet.
They will host a two-and-a-half-hour speed networking session over lunch in Moorkhana on Friday, November 14, from 11.30 am to 2 pm.
The event offers business owners and managers a fun way to meet new people and to source potential suppliers and generate interest in their services or products.
Mignon said: “As a small business ourselves, we would like to help other firms in the Deane to be equally successful and so we offered the Moorkhana function room for Rachel to hold a networking event where people can generate business for each other.
“Moorkhana already provides job opportunities and skills training for the local economy of Wiveliscombe, while we also support the surrounding business community through hiring out our function room, plus each room in the restaurant doubles as a gallery where local artists can display and sell their paintings.”
Rachel Sweet is on the board of the Somerset Chamber of Commerce and is also a UK Female Ambassador, and helps business women thinking of starting an enterprise or who need support and encouragement.
Places at the speed networking event, which cost £25, are limited because of the size of the premises, and can be booked by emailing enquiries@thesaffronkitchen.co.uk or faxing 01823 326682, or by post to Moorkhana, 3 Silver Street, Wiveliscombe, TA4 2PA. Cheques for £25 payable to ‘The Saffron Kitchen’ should follow by post.
Moorkhana, which is the trading name of The Saffron Kitchen, is a family-friendly restaurant serving meals between 6 pm and 10 pm on Wednesdays to Saturdays and lunchtimes by prior arrangement.
Mignon said: “Many of my recipes have been handed down through generations of my family and some of them are handwritten by my mother, which means the food in Moorkhana is authentic and tastes just how it would if you were actually in India.”
More information about Moorkhana and the speed networking event is available from Mignon and Andrew Johnson by telephoning 01984 623648 or by visiting the website http://www.thesaffronkitchen.co.uk/.

• Our photograph shows Mignon Johnson in traditional Indian dress. Photo submitted.