The Cod’s Scallops closes Birmingham branch

After nearly four years, The Cod’s Scallops has announced it will close its Harborne branch in Birmingham this Saturday. 

The closure comes as a result of multiple challenges, including difficulties with staffing, location and overall business viability in Birmingham. The company, which operates four other shops in Nottingham, had originally planned to open further sites in the Birmingham area to better support operations, but that plan never materialised.

Owner John Molnar commented: “The plan was always to open a cluster of three or four shops in Birmingham, because we service Harborne from Nottingham. That plan never materialised and it’s quite difficult to service one shop with a 130-mile round trip. 

The Harborne restaurant and takeaway, which opened in 2021, faced additional hurdles from Covid and Brexit, which impacted staffing. “Brexit just killed staff, and we struggled for ages to get good people. We had to service Birmingham with Nottingham staff and put them in hotels. Ironically, in the last 18 months, we had a really stable staff,” he explained.

Although John was committed to keeping the Harborne branch open, an off-market opportunity arose to lease the site to Café Nero, who recently acquired the Nottingham-based coffee chain 200 Degrees.

The location itself also presented challenges. Situated on a parade of shops with a dated 1980s look, the landlord had promised improvements such as new fascia, signage, and pedestrianised dining areas as part of efforts to regenerate the High Street, but these upgrades never came to fruition.

The business tried various strategies to boost trade, including discounted meals and drinks, but ultimately, the branch did not reach its full potential.

Reflecting on the closure, John said: “I couldn’t predict Covid, Brexit, and all the rest of it. I got approached off market so I took it.”

Looking ahead, The Cod’s Scallops plans to focus on growth in Nottinghamshire, with John adding: “What it has made me realise is that we’ve got a really strong brand awareness in Nottingham so we’re actively looking to do more shops in Nottinghamshire,” said John.

“We’ve also got a mobile fish and chip trailer set to launch mid-September, offering a smaller, tour-friendly version of The Cod’s Scallops for corporate events and weddings. It will do things like oysters, squid, baked fish determined by what is plentiful and really good for me to buy that week, and some salads. So we’ve got lots in the pipeline.”