National Fish & Chip Shop of the Year Competition 2004 - 25/10/2004

Ten fish and chip shops from around the UK have ‘battered’ off stiff competition from hundreds of fish and chip shops across the country to become the best fish and chip shop in their area as part of the National Fish & Chip Shop of the Year Competition 2004, organised by Seafish.

The ten shops will now compete in the final leg of the competition. A judging panel will convene in January to score the shops on their quality of product, customer service, cleanliness and innovation.  The UK supreme champion will then be announced at an awards ceremony on 26 January 2005 at the Tower Thistle Hotel in London, hosted by celebrity chef James Martin.

Andy Gray, project manager for the competition said: “This has been one the toughest years yet and we’ve seen some excellent shops.  These ten shops have all shown excellent standards and we were delighted to crown them best in their areas.”

Fish and chips are Britain’s number one take-away with more than 283 million meals sold per year.

-Ends-

Issued by:
Alison Laing/Alex Orr
3x1
T: 0141 353 5131
E: alaing@3x1.com/aorr@3x1.com

Notes to editors

Regional Finalists:
• Scotland – Dom’s Fish & Chip Shop, Glenrothes, Fife
• Wales – Hennighans Top Shop, Powys
• Northern Ireland – John Dory’s, Belfast
• North East England – Original Nash’s Fish Restaurant
• North West England – Seniors Fish & Chips, Blackpool
• Midlands – Our Plaice, West Hagley
• Eastern England – Linford’s Traditional Fish & Chips, Market Deeping
• London and South East – Skipjacks, Harrow
• Central and South England – Trawlerman, Basingstoke
• South West England – Hanbury’s, Torquay

• History of fish and chips/competition/celebrity quotes/trends and stats available on request.
• There are over 8,500 shops across the UK selling over 272 million meals annually with a turnover of more than £600 million. The sector employs more than 61,000 people.
• The 2003 British champion was Finnegans Fish Bar in Bridgend, Wales.
• Cod is the most popular fish sold in fish and chip shops accounting for 61.5% of fish sold, followed by haddock at 25%. Other white fish such as plaice are also popular.
• In the year ending May 2003 more than four times as many meals were sold from fish and chip shops than Indian restaurants.
• Seafish was established by the Government in 1981 and is a non departmental public body. It serves all sectors of the UK seafood industry – fishermen, processors, wholesalers, importers, exporters, seafood farmers, fish friers, caterers and retailers and is also responsible for consumers.
• The Fish and Chip Shop of the Year Competition is sponsored by the Frozen at Sea Fillets Association (FASFA). FASFA is a trade organisation representing trawler owners (from the UK, Norway, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Russia and Greenland) and UK distributers of ‘frozen at sea’ filleted fish.