Award-winning fish and chip shop Millers in Haxby, York, is expanding with a new fried chicken brand.
Mills Chicken, which opens on Thursday, will be headed up by Millers co-owner Nick Miller and head fryer Scott Kendrew. It will operate via a ghost kitchen within the Haxby shop, initially coinciding with the shop opening hours but with the ability to extend that if it takes off.
On the menu will be boneless chicken, chicken burgers, crinkle cut chips, loaded fries and a range of homemade sauces, including Mills sauce – its own secret recipe garlic and cayenne pepper variety.
The launch follows several years of successfully selling fried chicken and loaded fries at food festivals and Christmas markets. Nick comments: “Every time we do Christmas markets or a food festival event, we always get asked, ‘Where can I get this?’. And I have to say, ‘You can only get it while we’re here’. So it’s nice to have its own base where people can get it all the time.
“Plus, what I didn’t want to do was add chicken to the menu at Millers, dilute the menu of fish and chips and confuse customers by not focusing on what we want want to focus on.”
Nick has teamed up with a range of local suppliers for the new venture, buying chicken from a local butchers, brioche buns from the local bakery, and a range of desserts from independent bakeries.
Nick adds: “For me it’s still about sourcing good quality raw products and frying it, which is what we do best.”
Nick sees strong potential for the concept, adding: “The profit margins are good, you’re looking at £30 for 5kg of chicken, and it’s so popular.
“I feel like at the minute, loads of people in the hospitality industry are bashing their heads against the wall, thinking prices are going up, what’s going on, we’re not as busy. For me, this is a way to counteract that and do something else.”
Nick is confident that fried chicken is a growing market, with two weddings this year where he’s been asked for the loaded fries and the chicken concept. “That tells me something!” he adds.
Looking ahead, there’s potential for the brand to grow into a separate premises. Nick adds: “For now, I’ve put in a cook line with separate fryers, separate canopy, fridges and freezers so the kitchen can run independently of Millers, even out of hours. To do that and operate with no extra costs other than extra energy and manpower was a no-brainer for me. And if we outgrow the space, then that’s a good sign.”
A portion of Mills Chicken and chips will cost between £10 and £12.
