Top 12 Drywite Young Fish Frier of the Year Competition – National Fish an Chip Awards 2025
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The doors of Zero Plus were opened in Cardiff by Zohaib Hussain’s parents in 1991, with their son joining the team full time after he finished university. Zohaib, now at the helm of the business, has been instrumental to its success and growth having won the National Fish & Chip Awards’ Drywite Young Fish Frier of the Year title in 2012 and most recently in 2024, the Marketing and Innovation trophy.
Along the way, he has carved out a leadership style that encourages fun and originality in the workplace, giving the fish and chip shop a great reputation for more than just its food. Zohaib tells us more.
Smells like team spirit
Winning this award has given us an additional advantage of being set apart further from competitors. We’ve always tried to be the best in every department by doing things differently and personally, it’s given me acknowledgment that this kind of approach does get rewarded.
It’s also brought about great opportunities, with our increased visibility and credibility attracting new partnerships and collaborations leading to more business growth. The award has boosted team morale within our workplace. It acknowledges the hard work, and our striving for excellence and it’s touched all the team as everyone contributes to team meetings and ideas.
Our award is on display so customers can see our achievement in our trophy display, and they often post, share or tag a social media post! #Instagrammable. This usually results in more social media followers.
A* ingenuity from Zero Plus
Being creative is key part of our marketing plans at Zero Plus. For us to stand out from our competition we tend to go against the grain. Thinking outside the box is valuable for marketing because it encourages creativity, innovation and differentiation.
Our team has regular meetings where we discuss marketing strategies throughout the year. I personally feel that asking everyone’s opinion is extremely important, not only are we a team but we never know who the creative members are until they’re asked to contribute their ideas.
I’m most proud of our ‘Golden Ticket’ project and just before we closed our shop for refurbishment, we thought we would want a quiet day to open back up on, almost like a tester day. We asked customers to enter a prize draw and randomly selected 50 names and sent them a Willy Wonka-style Golden Ticket for the opening night.
After any refurbishment, a shop will eventually open up, but this Golden Ticket Day created a buzz in our community and local Facebook pages were full of posts about how to get one of the tickets. This first day also allowed us to test all our equipment and systems for just 50 guests instead of having a queue and being under pressure. Win- win!
Our ‘Timelapse’ video was another marketing project which almost never happened. We decided the week before to record every aspect of our refurbishment and create a timelapse video. Once complete we handed it over to Wales Online and created over 123k views. This project came about whilst discussing how to keep our community engaged whilst our shop was closed.
What the industry seal of approval brings
We won the Marketing & Innovation award in February and from that day onwards we’ve experienced a boost with our business credibility, and it’s also enhanced our brand reputation. Our brand awareness and visibility have vastly improved too through the media coverage, press releases and social media mentions, which have drawn in new customers.
The great thing about the National Fish & Chip Awards is that it reassures existing customers that they have made the right choice by choosing to buy food at Zero Plus. It has increased customer loyalty and encourages repeat business and the prestige of being a winner at the awards has helped draw in new customers from in and around Cardiff.
My recent study trip to Norway with Seafood from Norway, which sponsored the 2024 awards, to learn about the fishing industry was an incredible experience. We dived straight into informative seminars where traceability and sustainable fishing methods took centre stage and also had the chance to quiz the scientists making the quota decisions for the coming year.
Surrounded by breathtaking fjords and the crisp arctic air, I had the opportunity to explore the Osterfjord vessel. The state-of-the-art fishing vessel was fascinating, combining traditional craftsmanship with cutting-edge, energy-saving technology. Meeting with the crew and fishing experts from the vessels association in person deepened my appreciation for the fishing industry and its vital role in Norway’s culture and economy.
The knowledge gained and stunning natural beauty made the trip truly unforgettable. The ability to give first-hand experience to my customers regarding the traceability of the food we serve, will help diners in having the confidence in our sustainability pledges.
While we have received the Marketing & Innovation accolade, we want to continue striving for excellence in fish and chips and unique marketing projects. Our sponsor, T Quality, has challenged us to go one step further and create another special marketing project in our winning year, which we have accepted.
All of us at Zero Plus are feeling a sense of achievement, celebration and pride and we shall be entering the awards again for 2025. Any business thinking about doing the same, we say ‘go for it!’, you’ve nothing to lose!
