Fish and chip shops across the UK are launching their bid to be crowned top chippy in the national Fish and Chip Shop of the Year competition, today (19 May 08). And it’s an extra special year as the event celebrates its 21st birthday.
Organised by industry body Seafish, the competition searches for the best fish and chip shop in the UK, offering the highest quality of service, product, staff development and sustainable practices. The judging criteria is strict and the top shops go through several rounds of in depth judging before presenting to a panel of industry experts in London.
The competition is split into 19 different geographical areas with a total of 95 shops being shortlisted in this first stage every year. Derek O’ Hanlon from Frydays in Radcliffe made the top five in his area in 2007. He said: “The competition is the highlight of our working year and the publicity is worth every effort. The local newspapers and TV ran our story for weeks and helped promote our shop across the local area.”
Winning the title is the ultimate industry accolade. Current champion, Gordon Hillan from the Townhead Café in Biggar said: “It’s been a whirlwind year for us. Our business has increased by at least 40% and we’ve seen customers visit from across the world. We entered the competition for a number of years before reaching the finals and it’s an excellent way of improving standards across your business.”
To register for the competition, shops need to write, telephone or e-mail Seafish with their contact details, before the end of June 2008. The competition gets fully underway in July and, following two rounds of judging, the details of the 19 area winners will be announced in October. A further round of judging will determine the top ten shops in the UK who will progress to the grand final, to be held in London in January 2009.
In its 21st year, the competition has gained support from a record number and a wide array of sponsors across the industry. This year, competition sponsors and supporters include nPower, Middletons Food Group, Henry Jones, Goldensheaf, Dinaclass, Heinz SqueezeMe!, Blakemans, Seafood Scotland, Frozen At Sea Fillets Association, Henry Colbeck Limited, T Quality, VA Whitley, Drywite, National Federation Of Fish Friers, Nortech Foods Limited, Preston and Thomas and Friars Pride.
Andy Gray, project manager for the competition, said: “This is a special year as we are celebrating our 21st birthday. Since the competition began in 1987, we’ve seen winners from Peterhead to Poole, most of whom still run extremely successful businesses. The fish and chip world has changed dramatically in the past two decades and our judging criteria has reflected this. It’s encouraging to see a consistent improvement in standards which can only be beneficial to the industry.”
Fish and chips is the nation’s favourite take-away, with nearly 265 million meals sold every year from around 10,500 shops. It’s also one of the healthier forms of fast food, with around 35 per cent less calories and 40 per cent less fat than a doner kebab or chicken korma.
