Blue Lagoon to open first English site in Newcastle

Scottish fish and chip chain Blue Lagoon is set to open its first site outside Scotland later this year with a new restaurant planned for Newcastle.

The family-run operator will launch the venue at 77 Grainger Street in the city centre, marking its debut in England and its 17th location overall. The project represents a £1.5m investment and will create around 20 jobs.

The Newcastle branch, scheduled to open in May or June, will be a 60-seater restaurant offering dine-in, takeaway and home delivery.

Blue Lagoon currently operates 16 sites across Scotland, starting out on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow in 1975 and expanding to cities including Perth and Stirling. Its most recent opening was in Prestwick, Ayrshire, in January.

The company celebrated its 50th anniversary last year with a promotion that saw prices rolled back to 1975 levels, with chips available from just 95p.

Simone Varese, director at Blue Lagoon and third generation, said: “As a family-run business, we are about to open our first site in Newcastle, which we are very excited about. This will be our first site in England and hopefully the start of more to follow.

“Located at 77 Grainger Street in the heart of the city, it is an area that we have spent years scoping and we are delighted to finally begin the refurbishment.”

Simone added that the Newcastle opening comes shortly after a setback for the business following a fire on Union Street in Glasgow which destroyed one of its branches. “This is a welcome distraction from the disaster that struck our business on Sunday following the Union Street fire which brought down our Gordon Street branch,” he said. “However, we are determined to reopen this site as soon as possible.”