AS reward for a quarter of a century's service Mick McCarthy received a £250 cheque and had lunch with his bosses at the world's biggest Indian food factory in Leigh.

Patak's, one of the UK's leading manufacturers of authentic Indian food, certainly spiced up Mick's life. He met his partner Lynne when she was working on reception at Patak's, and was one of the six original members of staff when the company first opened a factory in Abram in 1978.

Manager

Mick is manager for environmental services at the Leigh site and daughter, Jenny, works at the plant, as a microbiology assistant.

To mark his 25 years Mick attended a lunch with Patak's chairman and chief executive Kirit Patak and managing director David Page.

Mick, aged 52, said: "It's been a privilege to work with the Patak family all these years and watch the business flourish the way that it has. It's amazing to think that 25 years ago there were just six people and now there are 250 employees based here and over 600 in the UK. The products that we produce here at Leigh are exported all over the world, with some travelling as far afield as Australia, and it's great to be a part of that."

Kirit Patak added: "Mick is a real asset to our business. We wanted to recognise all the hard work, loyalty and dedication that he has contributed over all these years. He is a real character who brings a smile and a joke to people's working day -- we're going to try and persuade him stay at Patak's for another 25 years!"