Meet Nick Chapman from Shavington Fish Bar in Crewe and his lovely family.
Nick grew up with fish & chips as his parents ran shops – and now so does he!
Nick recently refurbished his shop and we were very happy to install a 4-pan High Efficiency Island Florigo Frying Range, complete with Active Triple Filtration, Halo Lighting, Mirror Doors and a heated Click & Collect station built into the range.
Nick has kindly taken the time to do an interview with us, so grab a cuppa and take 5 for yourself while you have a read!
How did you get into the industry?
Family. Fish & chips runs through both sides of our family. I have very fond memories from a child of shops my mum and dad used to own. I was actually a chef at my mum and dad’s pub when I spotted the opportunity to purchase the shop.
What’s your favourite part of running Shavington Fish Bar?
My favourite part has to be working with the finest ingredients we can find to produce the most amazing product possible. When you see that end product being portioned up and served to your customers as it leaves the shop has to be the best feeling.
Describe your shop in 3 words.
Snazzy, Efficient, Quality
Why did you decide to refit the shop?
I felt like we had reached our maximum potential working within our current system. If we wanted to take the business to the next level, we had to implement new systems and invest in new equipment. To put it bluntly our current working processes were holding us back.
Why did you choose a Florigo Frying Range?
As soon as we decided we were going to do the work required Florigo was our number 1 choice. I did do my own market research and spoke to quite a few people within our industry for their advice, all the feedback still pointed towards a Florigo Frying Range, plus I love the way they look and knew it would do everything we wanted from it.
Have any jobs been made easier with the Florigo?
Yes. I used to spend considerable time and energy filtering my oil every morning the traditional way using a stand-alone machine. Obviously now we have the Active Triple Fltration system built in which makes life much easier and saves valuable time.
Basket frying has made service a lot easier than the traditional way, saving time and producing a better product.
It’s more a general thing but for me in terms of ease it has to be how well the range now copes during busy periods, making life less stressful.
What are your favourite features on the frying range?
For me as already touched upon it has to be the active triple filtration system, having never had this function before it not only saves time but is also really easy to use.
A couple of little things that I really like are the Halo Lighting, it’s great to be able to see absolutely everything you are cooking much clearer. Also, the fan heating system in the chip box helps keep a much more even temperature and keeps the chips in peak condition.
One other feature that I’m so glad we had is the heat plate for the ‘click & collect’ orders, this is invaluable with the increase of more and more people turning towards this method of ordering.
How do you feel about the current issues faced by the industry?
There are a number of issues that we are currently having to face as an industry. The main one for me at the moment being the rising costs across the board particularly oil and fish.
I think there is currently some great work going on within our industry to get the word out to the public about these issues making them aware of why we have to raise our prices. I think we all need to do our bit to support each other in getting this information to the public.
No longer can fish & chip shop owners continue to absorb these price increases we all need to come together and charge accordingly for what still is great value when compared to other takeaway options. The main challenge for me here is we are almost having to try and reprogram the public’s perception of fish & chips being a ‘cheap meal’. It’s a quality meal that still represents great value.
What advice would you give to people starting up their own fish & chip business?
Don’t cut corners. Always try to do things the right way. Use the best ingredients available, try not to let price be your main consideration. Invest back into your business. Don’t be scared of asking for advice or help from experienced people within the industry. Be prepared to put in the hard work especially in the early days. Have a clear identity and stick to it.
What does the future hold for Shavington Fish Bar?
We now have a lovely looking shop and at last a range that can cope with pretty much anything you can throw at it. With this in mind, we feel the sky really is the limit. We have options available to us to grow the business that just weren’t available to us before. We are looking forward to expanding our operation knowing there is now nothing holding us back.
Anything else you would like to add?
Since reopening since the refurb, we have been extremely busy setting new records every day which makes us even more grateful for the Florigo. As we know we wouldn’t have been able to keep up or cope with the extra demand without it.
Big Thank you to Nick for taking the time to answer all of our questions! We wish Nick and his lovely family all the best with the shop and we look forward to catching up again to see how things are going. If you’d like to check out Shavington Fish Bar online, click on the facebook link below!
Check out Shavington Fish Bars facebook below or head to the website!
We’re grateful to business owners from across the UK who have taken the time to speak with us about the benefits of Florigo ownership – watch and read their feedback on our customers page ››