Last week, we had the pleasure of catching up with Lauren Kellaway from Kellaway’s Fish & Chips! We wanted to know how a successful business has coped during recent times.
Previously called The Golden Chip, Larry & Amanda Kellaway took over the business back in 1997. Their daughter Lauren became heavily involved in the business a few years ago and they did a complete re-fit in 2018 which included changing the name of the shop! In 2019, Lauren Kellaway fought off strong competition to become the Young Fish Frier of the Year, which is an amazing achievement. Now on their third Florigo range, Kellaway’s are a long standing Florigo customer and we are proud to supply their frying equipment.
We know you closed during the lockdown, how have you found it since you re-opened?
We were closed for 5 weeks, we’d spoken to some other shops and the NFFF about what was best to do and we decided that closing was the best choice for us. Whilst we were closed, we were still busy setting up our click & collect service and working on the business.
We opened back up with just 4 of us & only did pre-orders. We took orders over the phone, 1 every 10 minutes, and then 2 online slots, so we were doing 3 orders every 10 minutes to begin with. Eventually, we were so busy we had to bring back more staff. We were selling out so fast, someone said it’s harder to get an order in at the chippy than it is to get Glastonbury tickets!
After 2 months we started doing lunchtimes again. All the businesses around us are on limited hours and changing the way they work too. We’re constantly adapting, it’s a completely different way of working.
How have you helped to make your business covid-secure?
We try to keep everyone in their separate areas, however due to the job, we do cross paths. We try and mix it up so that people aren’t doing the same thing every day, so we swap jobs from day to day. Thankfully, we’ve got a great team. We’re a family, both Jess & Molly have been with us for 5 years plus, they care about the business & we all want to keep it safe.
The NFFF has done fantastic work, they’ve simplified the information from the government. We need to know where we stand when running our business; the NFFF has really helped when it comes to government information and guidelines. We’ve all been wearing masks since re-opening and we were wearing gloves, but it was just too hot. We’ve got hand washing stations and hand sanitiser all over, and wash our hands and clean surfaces frequently. We’ve always kept a high level of hygiene and keep our shop clean and tidy. We’re still on a reduced menu and there are only five of us on shift whereas we used to operate with seven. Our customers are understanding but it’s not been an easy time for anyone.
,Have you got any plans for deliveries?
We’re not doing deliveries as it’s just not cost-effective for us, it’s a big outgoing cost and not a lot of places deliver around here. A pub close to us is doing “meals on wheels”, but it’s not like other areas where almost every shop and restaurant delivers.
We’re lucky with where we’re located, we’ve got a post office, a pharmacy & an industrial estate close by. Some customers might be getting their car serviced and come for chips while they wait. Our lunchtime trade isn’t quite what it was as there are a lot less people in offices now, but it’s still worth being open. If we have any walk-ups we try and fit them into a slot; we’re open with them and say “we’ve got availability in 30-40 minutes time”, and most customers are understanding. We’re not allowing customers in the shop and it will be a while before we do.
What does the future hold of Kellaways?
We’re doing all we can and working as hard as we can and hopefully, we’ll get through the other side. We are all in survival mode at the moment. We like being able to support those that are still in their normal routine of Fish & Chips every lunchtime, that’s their treat. It’s really important for us to keep our business safe and our team employed. We’re lucky we have a small team. If we had more staff we might have had to let people go. We’re trying to make things as easy as possible in these uncertain times.
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