The UK’s three best multiple fish and chip business have been revealed today, netting a place on the shortlist for the Best Multiple Fish and Chip Operator Award, one of 14 categories in the 2020 National Fish & Chip Awards.

Organised by Seafish, the public body that supports the £10bn UK seafood industry, the National Fish & Chip Awards is a prestigious annual competition which celebrates excellence in the fish and chip industry. 

The Best Multiple Fish and Chip Operator category is open to fish and chip businesses with more than three outlets within the UK including franchises, and is hotly contested. The top three finalists in this category represent the best in the UK. They will now compete in further assessment in their quest to become the nation’s number one. 

The businesses shortlisted for the award are:

• Sutton and Sons, London 
• Fusco’s of Whitby, North Yorkshire
• Daniel’s Fish and Chips, Dorset

As part of the judging process, each business is carefully assessed on a variety of elements including sustainable sourcing policies, menu development and innovation, staff training policies and processes and wider marketing and promotional activity. Judges review the application forms and assess the quality of fish and chips on offer and the levels of customer service provided by staff through mystery dining visit of three of the operator’s locations. 

Over the coming weeks the three businesses will be judged again for consistency in their product and  customer service across their multiple sites, before the winner is revealed at the final awards ceremony held in London in January 2020.

Marcus Coleman, Chief Executive Officer at Seafish, said: “This award category showcases the leading multiple fish and chip businesses across the country. The shortlisted operators have demonstrated real commitment to quality in a number of areas, not just food, and have worked extremely hard to earn their place on this list. There’s a tremendous amount of talent to be seen across these businesses, and we wish them all the best for the final as we know how much this competition means to all of them.” 

Ryan Baker, Middleton Foods, said: “We’re proud to sponsor this award category and seeing the enthusiasm of the multiple operators in their businesses, their commitment to consistently high quality fish and chips is fantastic to see. We work closely with the fish and chip industry, and the difference an award can make to the success of a multiple operator business can be significant.”

The winner of the Best Multiple Fish and Chip Operator Award will be announced at The National Fish & Chip Awards’ 32nd annual awards ceremony in London on 23 January 2020.

The National Fish & Chip Awards have continually grown in scale and stature since their formation in 1988, and are now recognised as one of the most prominent and respected seafood industry events in the UK.

For information on all announced awards shortlists, please visit https://www.seafish.org/article/finalists-and-winners

To keep up to date with news of forthcoming awards announcements and results visit: https://www.seafish.org/fish-chip-awards or follow: @FishNChipAwards on twitter - #FishnChipAwards.