UPDATE ON THE NATIONAL FISH & CHIP AWARDS 2013

This year celebrates the 25th anniversary of the National Fish & Chip Awards, please see below for an update on how the finals are progressing.

Judging Update

Judging to determine shortlisted finalist businesses for the following award categories as part of the 2013 National Fish & Chip Awards has now been concluded (click the link to see the finalists)Independent Takeaway Fish and Chip Shop of the Year AwardIndependent Fish and Chip Restaurant of the Year AwardBest Multiple Operator AwardBest Multiple Foodservice Outlet Serving Fish and Chips AwardBest Newcomer AwardStaff Training and Development AwardContribution To Local Community AwardYoung Fish Frier of the Year Award Marketing and Innovation AwardFrom Field To Frier Award

Final judging for the Good Catch Award and Best Independent Foodservice Outlet Serving Fish and Chips is scheduled to be completed by the end of November:

Norway Study Trip

In early October the representatives from the top ten finalists of the Independent Takeaway Fish and Chip Shop of the Year Award category (and the winner of last year^s Young Fish Frier of the Year Award), undertook a study trip visit to the fishing port of Alesund in Norway, to learn about the supply channels of Norwegian fish to the UK fish and chip shop market.

The cost of the trip was kindly funded by the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC). During the trip, study group members learned how Norway manages its sustainable fisheries, they took a trip on the 70m freezer trawler Granit IV where they witnessed first-hand the entire frozen at sea cod fishing process, they visited a fish processing plant and had numerous meetings with a variety of Norwegian fishing/seafood industry representatives.

NE Scotland Study Trip

In early December Seafish and Seafood Scotland will be leading a study group visit to Peterhead in NE Scotland for representatives from the finalist shops in the Best Newcomer Award category, where they will learn about the supply channels of Scottish whitefish to the UK fish and chip market.

Media Activity

The running of the awards continues to provide an excellent platform for promoting the various award categories, and fish and chips in general, to both trade and consumer media. Seafish retain the services of an external media relations company, 3X1 PR, to assist in the process of promoting and publicising the awards.

Sponsorship

The awards continue to run due to the valued sponsorship and support from a wide variety of industry partners. Details of the various sponsors can be found at http://www.fishandchipawards.com/

Awards Ceremony

The awards ceremony will take place on 24 January 2013 in London, at the prestigious Lancaster London hotel. This year the awards ceremony will be a formal black tie evening event and will be attended by approximately 650 guests.

For any further information about the awards please contact Nikki Hawkins on T: 01889 271604, E: n_hawkins@seafish.co.uk or Andy Gray on T: 0131 524 8642, E: a_gray@seafish.co.uk