National Fish and Chip Day 2023: Celebrating Success with The Chesterford Group and Shipdeck

In another Spotlight on National Fish and Chip Day 2023 we talk to The Chesterford Group to find out how their 38 shops across the country celebrated the day and why they were so keen to support it.

We also talk to Ryan from award-winning, Caerphilly fish and chip shop, Shipdeck and look at the amazing plans they put in place for the big day this year.

When did you first get involved with NF&CD?

The Chesterford Group (TCG) first got involved in 2015. It is a great day of celebration for the industry that we are so proud to be in, and each year gets promoted to, and supported by an increasingly larger audience – all of which is fantastic to see!

Ryan got involved 6 years ago when he worked and managed other shops and has been keen to celebrate it every year since he opened Shipdeck. 

Why did you want your shop to be involved?

For Shipdeck, they get involved because it’s a day that celebrates and highlights the industry as a whole and they believe it’s important to pull together to have more of an impact which in turn has more of a benefit to everyone.

Similarly, TCG say a day designated to celebrating our nation’s favourite dish is something they couldn’t refuse! All 38 of their shops took part in the celebrations this year. 

What were the highlights for you?

For TCG the highlight was (quite simply) seeing their passionate teams enjoy what they do, working together to deliver THE very best Friday fish & chips for our customers – all with a smile on their face! This year is their business’ 100-year anniversary celebration – so NF&CD seemed even more special to them! 

The highlight for Shipdeck was obviously seeing the queue moving all day! Ryan wishes he had recorded a timelapse of the day…maybe next year Ryan!  This year there was a great atmosphere too. The outside area was full all day and the children loved the activities they had put on. 

What did you do to maximise the day in your shop?

As you’ll see from the photos, this year Shipdeck went all out!  They obviously decorated the shop inside & out which looked great. You couldn’t drive past without noticing. They concentrated on the children this year as, after all, they are the future!  They reduced their children’s fish meal price, and it came with a fish and chip themed sweet cone. They always want to encourage the young ones to try fish. They had a day packed with activities on their patio area. Candy floss, face painting, colouring, games etc, all provided free for their customers. They also put vouchers in random customers bags. It could have been a free fish supper or buy one get one free side orders. 

TCG offered their customers 25% off fish & chip meals when they ordered through their click & collect channel. A few of their stores wore the official merchandise with pride (which was photographed and used for online adverts).  As a company they regularly posted National Fish and Chip Day related content – to both B2C and B2B audiences – during the lead up to the event and on the day itself. 

Why should other shops get involved?

For TCG it is a day to celebrate our wonderful industry, so they truly believe fish & chip shops all over the country (whether they are large or small in size) should get involved! Also, the organisers/sponsors of the day offer a variety of fantastic advertising opportunities and ways to help business’ get involved in the day – so shops always feel very supported along the way. 

Ryan thinks it’s important for as many shops to get involved as possible and believes the sector will always be stronger together. This day is put in place to benefit the entire industry, so shops need to support it. Shipdeck were busier than a normal Friday too, so that was a bonus.  The more shops that get involved the bigger the day will get. It keeps people talking about fish and chips, which is the aim of the day.

Were you busier than a usual Friday?

Ryan says, “A Friday is always a busy one for us. However, we were definitely busier, takings were up and instead of one person from the family coming there was the whole family as they were eating outside and staying for a while.  Yeh looking back it was crazy!”.

For TCG, their click & collect channel was far busier than a normal Friday. They deliberately marketed their special offer through digital marketing alone, saving a considerable amount of money and labour time that they’d usually spend on traditional print marketing and updating digital menu screens for other campaigns. They were delighted with the results and that this approach paid off – it was a fantastic example of the power of geo-targeted social media advertising, email marketing & engaging content marketing. 

What have you got to say about the day as a whole?

TCG Managing Director, Paul Goodgame says: “This year we worked much closer with NEODA and we have been impressed with their passion to support the continued success of our national dish. 

Targeting click and collect worked exceptionally well for us, this channel delivers the highest average order value and enabled us to attract new customers, of which many opted into our marketing database, providing us with the opportunity to attract those customers back in the future with tailored loyalty offers. 

On the day our click and collect sales increased by 66% and our transaction increased by 92% too, clearly a successful day!

A great day for our customer, our Teams and the industry alike, and we look forward to celebrating this again next year!”

Shipdeck’s Ryan says, “I’m looking forward to NF&CD next year already!  I always try to better the day from the previous year, so goodness knows what it will be like next year! It’s a fun-packed day for us whilst promoting our industry. Each year we get people that haven’t heard of the day but are pleased it exists. For me that’s what it’s all about. They now know.”

Any final thoughts on the day?

For Ryan, the main thing that can be done is pulling together. Our industry has a louder voice when it’s coming from multiple shops everywhere! And that’s free, it’s down to us all to keep our industry strong.