Britain’s best chippy 2016

Congratulations to Bonny and James Ritchie of Simpsons in Cheltenham, who scooped the top prize in this year’s National Fish & Chip Awards.

The family-run business, founded in 2009, beat 10 regional finalists to the title at the “Oscars” of the fish and chip business, organised by Seafish and held at the Lancaster London Hotel yesterday. Kingfisher Fish & Chips of Plymouth and the Cod’s Scallops of Nottingham were runners-up.
Now in their 28th year, the National Fish & Chip Awards were introduced to celebrate this classic British dish and have become one of the most prominent and respected seafood industry events in the country, with the awards ceremony being a real highlight of the calendar. The awards recognise outstanding businesses across a variety of categories, but far and away the top prize is for Independent Takeaway Fish and Chip Shop of the Year, with the winners effectively becoming ambassadors for the industry and seeing a huge spike in sales – past winners have seen turnover more than double.
Covering the length and breadth of the country, the other seven finalists were: Cromars in St Andrews, Fife (Scotland); Hikary’s Fish Bar in Neath, Port Talbot (Wales); The Dolphin Takeaway in Dungannon, County Tyrone (Northern Ireland); Mister C’s in Selby, North Yorkshire (North East England); Hodgson’s Chippy in Lancaster, Lancashire (North West England); Papa’s Barn in Ditton, Kent (London & South East England); and Cox’s of Letchworth in Letchworth, Hertfordshire (Central & Southern England).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HkBzQL98E4
To get to the final stage and secure a place in the coveted shortlist, shops were appraised across an extensive variety of judging criteria including responsible sourcing policies, shop appearance and facilities, staff training and development policies, marketing and promotional activity and local community involvement. They also received several mystery shopping assessments and in-depth audits by industry experts, to ascertain the quality of the fish and chips and the levels of customer service provided by staff.
Having being crowned the top shop in each of their respective regions, the hopefuls then have to put their presentation skills to the test as they are put through their paces in one last judging round. Facing a specialist industry judging panel, consisting of representatives from leading trade bodies and past awards champions, they are quizzed on a diverse range of industry related topics and have to showcase how they successfully run a profitable business.
Check out the official video to see the regional finalists explain in their own words how rigorous the awards process is – and what it means to win. And look out for a profile of the hugely deserving winners, coming soon…