The National Fish and Chip Awards has named the 20 shops that have successfully made it to the next round of the Fish & Chip Takeaway of the Year Award.
Following intense assessment – which has seen entrants measured up against criteria such as environmental best practice, product knowledge and employer accountability – the original shortlist of 40 has now been halved and includes:
Yarm Road Fish and Chips, Darlington, Tees Valley
Lighthouse Fisheries of Flamborough, Bridlington, Yorkshire
Mister C’s, Selby, Yorkshire
The Fish Bank, Sherburn-in-Elmet, Yorkshire
Auckley Friery, Doncaster, Yorkshire
Marina Fish & Chips, Skegness, Lincolnshire
Chips @No.8, Prestwich, Greater Manchester
Westend Fish and Chips, Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire
Angells Fisheries, Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire
Bishopston Fish and Chips, Bristol, Bristol
French’s, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk
Mike’s Traditional Fish & Chips, Eastleigh, Hampshire
Seafare Guildford, Guildford, Surrey
Stones Fish and Chips, Ealing, London
Zero Plus Fish & Chips, Cardiff
Ship Deck, Caerphilly
Finney’s Fish and Chips, Benllech
The Fish Works, Largs
The Wee Chippy, Anstruther
Chipmongers Portstewart, Londonderry
Andrew Crook, president at the National Federation of Fish Friers, which organises the awards, says: “The level of detail we require entrants to provide hasn’t phased our shortlisted businesses and they are hitting every mark. The award officials have gone back and forth and around in circles choosing the 20 finalists; it’s not been an easy task, so what a brilliant achievement for those that are moving forward.”
Representing Seafood from Norway, the principal sponsor for the awards, Victoria Braathen, UK director of the Norwegian Seafood Council, adds: “The 20 fish and chip takeaways should be extremely proud to be another step closer to potentially claiming the coveted top title in celebration of the nation’s favourite dish. The Norwegian seafood industry is proud to support UK fish and chip shops, supplying responsibly sourced Norwegian cod and haddock to operators that value quality and provenance. We’re excited to see how the category contenders progress.”
Industry leaders will continue further review of the shortlist, including mystery visits to whittle it down to 10 finalists.
