Carmarthen chippy receives letter from MP after Fry Awards win

West End Fish & Chips in Carmarthen has received a letter of congratulations from its local MP after being named a winner in the prestigious Fry Awards 2026.

The takeaway was praised by MP Ann Davies, who said the business “fully deserved” its place in Fry Magazine’s 50 Best Fish & Chip Takeaways and had “put Carmarthen Town on the map once again”.

Owner Murad Naoli said receiving recognition from his Member of Parliament was a “fantastic” moment for the business, particularly during what he described as one of the toughest periods the industry has faced.

Murad comments: “It is fantastic, to be honest. It’s good for the business and, of course, for our team as well. We are so happy to receive that, especially in these difficult times in the chip shop industry.”

West End Fish & Chips has won multiple awards in recent years, including Welsh Restaurant of the Year in 2022 and making the UK Top 40 in the 2023 National Fish & Chip Awards. Murad said awards play an important role in showing customers the effort that goes into running the business. “They really help us,” he said. “Customers like to see these kinds of things. They see our effort, how we spend time in the fish and chips industry, and that we serve better quality food because of it.”

The Fry Awards are judged by mystery diners, whose reports Murad takes seriously. “I read every comment,” he said. “I printed it out and read it with my staff and with my brother, because we are a family business. The mystery diner report is more important than the award itself, because it shows us what is minus, what is plus, and what we can do to make it better.”

The shop is one of the oldest food premises in Carmarthen, trading in various forms since the early 1950s. Murad and his brother took over the chippy in 2012, when he said it was in a poor state.

“It was very run down when we took it over,” he said. “We spent a lot of time to bringing it back to what a chip shop should be.”

Since then, the brothers have overhauled both the premises and the menu, upgrading fish suppliers, improving the interior, installing a new frying range and investing heavily in quality ingredients. They actively support their community, including the hospital and local football and rugby clubs.

Despite the recognition, Murad said the wider industry is under severe pressure due to rising costs. “I’ve been in the food sector for 28 years, and I will say this is one of the toughest years we have,” he said. “Fish prices are over £300 a box, we’ve never seen this price in our lives. Everybody is in the same situation.”

He said the letter from his MP, sent from the House of Commons, was a welcome morale boost. “It was a really great touch. I shared the letter on our social media, and this morning when I checked, we’d had over 50,000 people view it.”