WHY ENTER THE AWARDS?

Celebrating the great tradition of fish and chips, the annual National Fish & Chip Awards showcase the best talent, quality and choice offered by fish and chip businesses across the UK. Rewarding excellence, the awards also put successful businesses on the map, via regional and national media coverage. Now in their 30th successful year, and recognised as one of the most prominent and respected seafood industry events in the UK, the awards have come to be regarded as the ‘Oscars’ of the fish and chips world.

Established in 1988, the awards, overseen by Seafish, continue to support the wider fish and chip industry by:

• Rewarding individual excellence in a range of different award categories.
• Playing a role in raising quality standards and providing a benchmark for all fish and chip businesses to aspire to.
• Entering the awards can also add excitement in motivating staff to be the best.
• Providing a robust platform from which to undertake a wide variety of media activity promoting the fish and chip sector and its many diverse facets, and to encourage the continued consumption of fish and chips amongst both the UK population and visitors to the country.

Entering the awards is easy and the accolade of being judged one of the best fish and chip businesses in the UK can have an enormous impact on business

Media activity undertaken by Seafish in relation to the awards generates fantastic publicity for both participating businesses and the wider fish and chip sector. 

Across the award categories, various judging rounds culminate at a prestigious awards ceremony in London in January where all the award winners are announced.  

BOOST TO BUSINESS

The accolade of being shortlisted in the awards can have an enormous impact on business – previous Regional winners’ of the flagship IndependentTakeaway Fish and Chip Shop of the Year Award category have seen their turnover increase by up to 50% and some past National winners have seen their turnover increase by as much as 100%!

However, at every stage of the awards there are fantastic local PR and marketing opportunities for businesses just by being part of the awards.

 

TRAVEL AND LEARN 

In a number of award categories, shortlisted businesses also have the opportunity to join various all-expense-paid industry study trip visits, providing the opportunity to learn more about where our seafood comes from. Previous visits have included trips to destinations including Norway and northeast Scotland.

 

PAST WINNERS

Read more on how entering the awards has made the world of difference to business owners at www.fishandchipawards.com/finalists-and-winners/testimonials 

"2016 was a fantastic year for us as national winners of the Independent Takeaway Fish and Chip Shop of the Year Award. Winning the title provided us with many new and exciting opportunities, including being invited to Japan to cook for 10,000 people! It has been an honour to represent Seafish and the NationalFish & Chip Awards on a global scale”.

James & Bonnie Ritchie, Simpsons of Cheltenham

NEW FOR 2017 

In addition to a simplified and more streamlined online entry process, one of the major changes to this year’s awards program is the increase in the number of shops that will progress through the first stage of judging in the flagship Independent Takeaway Fish and Chip Shop of the Year Award – with the number of shops receiving physical in-shop judging visits increasing from 60 to 120. One of the main benefits of such a judging inspection being the valuable performance feedback report that is supplied post-judging, providing often very valuable impartial insight to a shop’s operations – a process that if undertaken with a commercial mystery dining company could cost shop owners in the region of £100. Just one of the many benefits to be derived from being a part of the National Fish & Chip Awards.

AWARD CATEGORIES 

The National Fish & Chip Awards encompass a variety of different award categories:

·Independent Takeaway Fish and Chip Shop of the Year Award

Open to all independent fish and chip businesses with a takeaway facility. 

·Independent Fish and Chip Restaurant of the Year Award

Open to all independent fish and chip restaurants. 

·Best Mobile Fish and Chip Operator Award

Open to operators of mobile fish and chip businesses.

·Best Multiple Fish and Chip Operator Award

Open to fish and chip operators with three or more outlets including franchises. 

·Best Newcomer Award

Open to fish and chip operators that are new to the industry and that have been in operation since no earlier than 1 May 2015. 

·Staff Training and Development Award

Open to all fish and chip businesses. 

·Best Foodservice Operator Award

Open to all foodservice operators that serve fish and chips but where fish and chips is not their core offering - such as pubs, cafes, department stores, hotels, travel and leisure.

·From Field to Frier Award

Open to all fish and chip businesses and rewarding knowledge and promotion of responsible sourcing and sustainability practices.

·Drywite Young Fish Frier of the Year Award

Open to all applicants who are aged 25 years or younger as of 31 December 2017. 

·Marketing Innovation Award

Open to all fish and chip businesses.

·Good Catch – The Sustainable Seafood Award

Open to all fish and chip businesses and rewarding knowledge and promotion of responsible sourcing and sustainability practices.

·Healthy Eating ‘Fish and Chips’ Award

Rewarding businesses that are excelling in educating and informing their customers on healthy choices and the nutritional values of fish and chips. 

·NFFF Quality Award ‘Champion Award’

Open to all current National Federation of Fish Friers Quality Award holders.

·‘Fish & Chip Friday’ – The School Meal Education Award

Open to entry from independent school catering operators and local council catering departments, and rewarding the serving of healthy fish and chips to school pupils.

HOW TO ENTER

The awards are free to enter. To find out more and to enter visit www.fishandchipawards.com or for further information e-mail awardsenquiry@seafish.co.uk

You can also keep up to date with all the latest awards news via

https://twitter.com/FishnChipAwards.

 

CLOSING DATES

The respective closing dates for the submission of complted entries to the various different award categories are:

• Independent Takeaway Fish and Chip Shop of the Year Award - 30 June 2017
• Independent Fish and Chip Restaurant of the Year Award - 31 July 2017
• Best Mobile Fish and Chip Operator Award - 31 July 2017
• Best Multiple Fish and Chip Operator Award - 31 August 2017
• Best Newcomer Award - 31 August 2017
• Staff Training and Development Award - 31 August 2017
• Best Foodservice Operator Award - 30 September 2017
• From Field to Frier Award - 30 September 2017
• Drywite Young Fish Frier of the Year Award - 30 June 2017
• Marketing Innovation Award - 31 October 2017
• Good Catch – The Sustainable Seafood Award - 31 July 2017
• Healthy Eating ‘Fish and Chips’ Award - 31 August 2017
• NFFF Quality Award ‘Champion Award’ - 30 September 2017
• ‘Fish & Chip Friday’ – The School Meal Education Award - 31 October 2017

 

ENTER AND WIN 

All businesses entering the awards by 30 June 2017 will also be entered into a free prize draw to win one of two places (along with travel and accommodation) on a training course of their choice at the KFE School of Frying Excellence.