The top 10 fish and chip shops in the United Kingdom that will now contest the Independent Takeaway Fish and Chip Shop of the Year award and the title of best fish and chip shop in the country have been announced by the 2017 National Fish & Chip Awards, organized by Seafish.
Covering the length and breadth of the country, the 10 finalists are:
• Fochabers Fish Bar in Fochabers, Moray (Scotland)
• Hennighan's Top Shop in Machynlleth, Powys (Wales)
• The Dolphin Takeaway in Dungannon, County Tyrone (Northern Ireland)
• Miller's Fish and Chips in Haxby, North Yorkshire (North East England)
• Hodgson's Chippy in Lancaster, Lancashire (North West England)
• Oldswinford Fish & Chips in Dudley, Stourbridge (Midlands)
• Burton Road Chippy in Lincoln, Lincolnshire (Eastern England)
• Henley's of Wivenhoe in Wivenhoe, Colchester (London & South East England)
• Godfrey's Fish and Chips in Harpenden, Hertfordshire (Central & Southern England)
• Kingfisher Fish and Chips in Plympton, Plymouth (South & West England)
To get to this stage, contenders faced appraisals by industry experts across a variety of criteria including menu development and innovation, sustainable sourcing policies, staff training processes, and marketing and promotional activities.
They also received mystery shopping assessments to ascertain customer service levels and the quality of fish and chips, along with in-depth judging audits to appraise a wide range of criteria including ingredient storage and preparation processes, cleanliness and integrity of shop equipment and observation of cooking practices.
Having being crowned the top shop in each of their respective regions, the hopefuls will now put their presentation skills to the test in one last judging round. Facing a specialist judging panel – consisting of representatives from leading trade bodies, the fish and potato supply sectors and past awards champions – they will be quizzed on a diverse range of industry related topics and be required to demonstrate how they successfully run a profitable business and plan for future development.
Held in London in January 2017, this final judging stage will determine the overall national winner that will be announced at the annual awards ceremony.
