Serene Fish & Chips in Gants Hill, Ilford, is all set to be franchised following a complete refurbishment and the installation of a five pan, high efficiency counter range from Henry Nuttall.
The takeaway, which has been in the family for over 32 years, was handed down to Mert Redif by his father seven years ago. In that time, the shop has got busier, due in part to the addition of deliveries and click and collect, yet staff have continued to fry on a two pan range. That all changed late last month when Mert upgraded to a five pan range.
“We’ve always been a busy shop but we’ve just become masters of using two pans,” he explains. “We were probably about seven to eight years late in getting a new range, but with a renovation happening we thought we would do everything at once.”
After seeing Henry Nuttall’s previous installs on Instagram, Mert called them in. He comments: “As well as being happy with the range, the service was the main reason I went with them. They let me make up my mind in my own time, there was no pressure, they were excellent.”
With the range in and an additional three pans making life easier, Mert says he feels like he’s a beginner again. “The food is great, the recovery time on the pans is really good and, whereas we used to change our oil three, maybe four times, a week, now we are only changing it two times a week so it’s saving us a lot on oil.”
With the new range has come a change in frying method too, swapping from free frying to basket frying: “I was nervous at first about the change but the plan is in six to eight months to franchise the business and I thought basket frying would make cooking the chips more consistent. It has been a good decision, it’s much easier to take out the chips when they are ready, which speeds everything up. “
The range is fitted with three hot boxes, two used to display food on busy Friday and Saturday nights and one blanked off for keeping deliveries warm until the drivers come to collect. Mert adds: “I liked the idea of having our logo on the range and Henry Nuttall suggested having it on the hot box behind the glass.”
With the refurbishment involving replacing all the old equipment with new, Mert is happy with how the shop looks, adding: “Because we want to franchise the business, I wanted a flawless system where nothing could go wrong but, if it did, there was a manual to say what to do to rectify that. With the Henry Nuttall range, the new equipment and all new systems in place, I’m confident that we are now there.”
Henry Nuttall 01909 560808 www.henrynuttall.co.uk
