CURRY Queen Nighat Awan believes she owes both her OBE and her happy marriage to Macclesfield.

The chief executive of the Shere Khan Group was invested with the Order of the British Empire for services to export and charity by HRH The Queen at Buckingham Palace.

Nighat cut her teeth in the business world by managing a garment factory in Macclesfield when she was 18, and then a fashion boutique and a florist shop.

She used the skills she had acquired to launch the Shere Khan restaurant chain, which has branches in Rusholme, the Trafford Centre, Chester and Altrincham. It is now a thriving international business, exporting an innovative range of curry products.

While in Macclesfield, she also met her future husband Rafique who spotted her from his car, rolled down the window and told her that one day she would be his wife.

Nighat, who was rushed to hospital in Manchester last week with heart problems but is now back behind her desk, has fond memories of the town.

"My business acumen was learned in Macclesfield," she said.

"I ran my first factory there, opened my first boutique and lived very happily in the area for many years, learning the ropes in commerce and industry.

"When I was still a teenager, living with my parents in Manchester, my mother told me that if I didn't want to do A-levels, I would have to run one of our family's garment factories - so I did, and it happened to be in Macclesfield.

"I was really thrown in at the deep end but I was lucky to have a great team around me - a manager, a foreman and 22 workers. The factory thrived, at the time we fitted in extra shifts to knock out much sought-after Bay City Rollers transfer T-shirts."

Much of Nighat's spare time is taken up with charitable activities for a variety of organisations including The Prince's Trust, Business in the Community, Bolton Business Ventures and Cancer Bacup.

Nighat was born in Manchester but spent several years of her childhood in Pakistan, which she acknowledges as a profound influence on her personality and ethos.

"I also owe my happy marriage to Macclesfield in a way," she said, "because my future husband Rafique Awan also had a factory unit there.

"He was a friend of a friend and one day he saw me, stopped his car, wound the window down and said 'You're going to be my wife'. I was only 17 at the time. Next year - three amazing children later - we'll be celebrating our thirtieth wedding anniversary.

"We were married in 1975, moved to Macclesfield, and Rafique bought me a fashion boutique there as his wedding present to me. So at 20 I found myself newly married, newly released from manufacturing and about to learn the boutique business.

"Soon I built the boutique into a chain, Je T'Aime, and I kept the Macclesfield shop for 13 years. Eventually I moved into the floristry business and finally the food business.

"I lived in Macclesfield until I moved to Hale in Cheshire because of the food business side of things - our Shere Khan restaurants were in Manchester.

"But in a large way I owe the business side of my OBE to Macclesfield."

Nighat attended the investiture with Rafique, elder son Atik and daughter Kiran.