National Fish and Chip Awards 2025 – General Rules

Who can enter?

The National Fish & Chip Awards are open to all bona fide fish and chip businesses in the United Kingdom. (Excluding the International Fish and Chip Operator of the Year ) Further details of eligibility for each award category are contained in the entry criteria for each respective category. The NFFF (NFCA) reserves the right to disqualify, at any time, any entrant shown to have provided false information. Persons who have been declared bankrupt or businesses that have been previously liquidated cannot take any part in the awards, or management of the awards, without the permission of the promoter. A Companies House credit check may be undertaken on businesses at any time throughout the awards process. To protect the integrity of the awards, the NFFF, and the sponsors , if any of the information provided changes, before or after the awards ceremony you must notify the awards team awards@NFFF.co.uk immediately. Failure to do so will result in the application/award being revoked.

NFFF Board Members or their immediate families (Parents, siblings, Spouses, children etc) are excluded from entering the awards whilst serving on the board and for the following two years awards. This excludes the Drywite Young Fish Frier of the Year category, as this category is run and overseen independently by Drywite, and we feel it is important all young people in the industry deserve the opportunity to enter.  Judges cannot enter for the following two years after judging.  

How to Enter

Closing dates for the submission of completed entries will vary per award category – please check the entry details for each award category for the respective closing date. All entrants will complete an online entry form along with a small selection of digital photographs. These photographs must be recent and must be less than 6 months old. You may also be asked to provide some supporting documentation, this must also be in individual photographic form and recent, and must be less than 6 months old (no links, downloads, PowerPoints, etc.) It is the responsibility of an entrant to ensure that completed entry forms are submitted to the NFCA before the respective closing date. Entries received after the closing date will not be eligible for consideration.

Judging

For each award category, an industry judging panel, comprising a variety of senior representatives from across the fish and chip and foodservice sectors will appraise and score all submitted entries, to determine an initial shortlist for a respective award category. Certain award categories may have several shortlist stages. There may also be a Zoom interview round, and a video presentation in some categories.

Shortlisted businesses may subsequently receive a minimum of 1 mystery dining visit and/or unannounced in-house judging visit.

An NFFF appointed assessor who will conduct these visits on an un-announced date, during a set judging period. Sponsors may from time to time visit finalist shops, but this does not form part of the

judging process. The in-house judging visit will last between 15-30 minutes approx. The judge will have an audit check list to complete which will then be moderated. Judges will carry I.D. to identify themselves to either you or a member of your team as a representative of the National Fish and Chip Awards judging team.

These judging stages will determine the successful businesses in each award category that will go on to attend the national awards ceremony to be held in London in February 2025

The Finals – February 2025

Finalists in respective award categories will be invited (2 tickets) to the national final awards ceremony which will be held in London in February 2025. If entrants are finalists in more than two categories, the maximum complementary ticket allocation is applied. The maximum ticket allocation is 4 tickets overall, irrespective of if you are finalists in more than two categories.

Endorsement

All winners of an award in a respective year cannot promote or endorse any other related business as being a winner. A category award is bestowed upon an individual business and should not be associated with other businesses, or branches, belonging to or associated to the owner of a winning business. Failure to comply with this rule could result in revoking of the award and exclusion from the following years of the awards.

Logo use

Shortlisted businesses, category finalists and category winners will be issued with the relevant copyrighted logos. Logos must be used in line with the guidelines.

PR

Publicity for the awards will be organised by NFFF (NFCA) and any press release embargoes set by the NFFF (NFCA), or their appointed public relations agency must be adhered to by all participating businesses. Photography submitted by entrants may be used by the NFFF for publicity purposes – to promote shortlisted businesses and the wider awards. Only submitted photography showing business exteriors and customer areas would be used in such instances.

Sale of Business

If a business is put on the market for sale in the year of the 2025 Awards, between 1st June 2024 and 25th February 2025, it must be withdrawn from the competition immediately.

Current Winners

The current winner of any 2024 award category is not eligible to enter the same category in this year’s 2025 awards.

Winners’ Commitment

The winner of an award agrees to commit to supporting, promoting, and publicising the award and the fact that they are a winner, in the year after their victory and in their role of winner, may be required to attend a small number of NFFF (NFCA) organised events throughout the year of their success.

Changes

Any changes to specific dates as detailed above will be notified on the awards website. All information is deemed to be correct at time of publishing.

Results Announcements

All category results will be publicised on the awards website only, throughout the competition year. The results are embargoed until the NFFF (NFCA) release the results officially and media outlets breaking the embargo may find themselves excluded from future announcements.

Feedback

All competition feedback, where it is given, will be distributed digitally. Upon receipt of feedback no further correspondence will be entered into. Feedback reports will be issued after the awards ceremony, up until the 30th April 2025

Decisions

The decision of the judges is final and made public in the competition rules. Should there be any case for appeal, an application in writing must be made, within 28 days of receipt of any feedback report, to awards@NFFF.co.uk

Each appeal will be administered and replied to within 28 days after receipt.

Ready to enter?

Visit www.thefishandchipawards.com

If you would like to become a sponsor of the National Fish and Chip Awards, contact: awards@nfff.co.uk