Despite seeing his maiden restaurant burnt to ashes on the night before its inauguration, Monjurul Haque, chairman of Barcode Group, has come a long way since 2015.
The eldest son of Late Nurul Hoque, owner of Chittagong’s leading industrial group that bears his name, opened a coffee shop named Barcode to distract himself from the trauma of his father's demise in 2012.
Monjurul, born and raised in the UAE, studied Business Management at the Thames Business School in Singapore
Once Barcode gained popularity Hoque decided to launch another restaurant commercially in Chittagong’s Muradpur, naming it Barcode Seafood. He completed all the decorations at a cost of about Tk1 crore.
The inauguration of the restaurant was set to take place on March 23, 2015, but it completely burnt to ashes in a fire on March 22, the night before inauguration.
However, that did not dampen his resolve. He launched the restaurant once again – this time he named it Barcode on Fire.
Now he has 20 restaurants including 15 in Chittagong, five in Dhaka and one in the UAE, serving local and continental cuisine, employing over 400 people.