Owners of Madhav hang up their aprons for the last time as the Development Bank backs management buy-out of popular vegetarian Indian café and mini market in Cardiff

Dnyaneshwar Gaikwad, 89, and his wife Pushpa, 78 have retired from their popular vegetarian Indian café and mini-market in Cardiff after 43 years following a management buy-out that has been part-funded with a £100,000 loan the Development Bank of Wales. 

First established in 1980 on Lower Cathedral Road in Cardiff, Madhav serves up home-cooked vegetarian Indian street food. Chef Maruti Satpe and his wife Sadhana who is the store manager have taken over the business after working with the Gaikwad’s for the last ten years. 

With an average rating of 4.5 on TripAdvisor and Google, Maruti and Sadhana will continue to serve tasty, healthy, and nutritious meals while growing the grocery store with a range of specialist products not found elsewhere in Cardiff and increasing capacity in the café area to create a restaurant. 

Maruti and Sadhana Satpe said: “Since coming from India to the UK in 1963, Dnyaneshwar and Pushpa Gaikwad have worked hard to build a life for their family. They settled in Cardiff in early 1970 and bought a little shop in 1980 that they named Madhav after Mr Gaikwad’s father. As they say, the rest is history and Madhav is now an established Inidan grocery store and café that local people know and love.

“We have had the privilege of working with the Gaikwad’s over the last ten years. It has been our dream to own the business one day so with the help of the Development Bank, we have now made that happen. We are very excited to continue doing what we love, serving our customers with traditional home-cooked Indian food and growing the grocery store.”

Assistant Investment Executive John Babalola worked with Deputy Fund Manager Jo Thomas to structure the finance for Madhav. John said: “Having recently joined the Development Bank, this has been a great first deal to work on. It demonstrates our support for business owners of diverse ethnicity and shows how we can help business owners to retire while protecting the legacy of all that they have achieved. 

“We wish the Satpe family every success as they take over the reigns and prepare for the next 43 years as the owners of Madhav.”

The loan for Madhav came from the £500 million Wales Flexible Investment Fund. Offering loans, mezzanine finance and equity investments from £25,000 to £10 million, the fund is financed entirely by Welsh Government. Terms of up to 15 years are available for Welsh businesses.