Black Country fish and chip shop hopes to batter rivals

Brothers Zach and John Ioannou are co-owners of the Oldswinford Fish and Chips on Hagley Road in Stourbridge, which was first opened by their father Andreas in 1977.

They are delighted that after deciding to enter for the first time this year, they have made the final of the 2017 National Fish and Chip Awards, organised by Seafish.

The shop is among six that will compete in the region, and to reach this stage they have already been praised by industry experts across a variety of judging criteria, including menu development and innovation, sustainable sourcing policies, customer service and staff training processes, marketing and promotional flair, and how they attract new customers to fish and chips.

Over the coming weeks, the shortlisted shops will be subjected to further judging as they receive mystery shopping assessments. This next stage of the competition will whittle down the line-up, establishing a UK top 20 that will subsequently compete to be crowned with a prestigious 'regional' title. Following a further judging stage, the overall national winner will be announced in January after a seven-month long judging process.

Zach said: "It is brilliant to be recognised. We are a family-owned fish and chip shop that has been running for nearly 40 years. This is the first time we have entered the competition, and we are very pleased and are hoping to go even further. It's going to be a lot of hard work over the next few months."

Their success so far in the competition follows the takeaway, which also delivers to customers, receiving a Quality Award from the National Federation for Fish Friers.

This is only awarded to fish and chip shops which have proved they have achieved highest standards in everything from the cleanliness of their premises and equipment, to their level of staff training and of course the quality and taste of their cooked product.

Culminating in an awards ceremony at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge hotel on January 26, The National Fish & Chip Awards are recognised as one of the most prominent and respected seafood industry events in the UK.