The Sweet Centre Story
Despite your best efforts, it was difficult to find traditional Asian sweets and snacks in the UK in 1964.The rapidly growing Pakistani and Indian communities in Bradford were unable to find places to enjoy the typical sweets and savoury meals they were accustomed to.
The late Haji Abdul Rehman recognised that this presented both a challenge and an opportunity. He already owned a successful grocery store at 194 Lumb Lane, but in true innovative fashion, he chose to invest his entire life earnings in opening a sweet store.
The opening of Sweet Centre on December 12th, 1964 was a major success.
What began as a small enterprise with only three employees blossomed to a company of seven by the 1970s.Sweet Centre’s popularity rose regularly as the market for Asian sweets expanded, and at one point, we were even supplying cinemas around the Yorkshire region!
Savoury appetisers from our menu, including seekh kebabs, samosas, and chana puri, also proved to be extremely popular options.Every delicacy produced in Haji Abdul Rehman’s kitchen was created using his personal recipes, that we continue to use to this day.In 2018, Sweet Centre moved to 106 Lumb Lane, a well-known spot that has evolved to be significant to the Asian community.
According to the late Haji Abdul Rehman himself, “All our sweets are mixed by hand. It takes great skill to know when the sugars and other ingredients and blended correctly.”Nearly three generations later, his son Liaqat Habib oversees Sweet Centre. He takes great pride in carrying on his father’s legacy and passing along his talents and abilities.
Sweet Centre celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014. We would like to express our appreciation to our customers for dining with us and supporting us for so long. we are already anticipating the following 50!
