The owner of a Colchester fish and chip shop has said it was “absolutely amazing” to make it into the top three of a category at a national awards.

Henley’s of Wivenhoe was nominated in the Quality Accreditation category at the National Fish and Chip Awards held yesterday (Wednesday, February 28).

Fish and chip shops are judged against quality benchmarks here in the accreditation scheme set up by the National Federation of Fish Friers.

Although they missed out on the award to French's Fish Shop in Wells-next-the-Sea, to make it to the final three out of thousands of fish and chip shops is still an impressive feat, and something Henley’s managed at the 2023 awards also.

Speaking after the awards, owner David Henley was very happy to have been a finalist in the category once again.

He said: “To make it in the final three is absolutely amazing. To batter the competition once again. It’s not just being up here for the day it’s everything we have to go through, all the preparation all the in-depth audits and everything to make sure we offer the best fish and chips possible.”

Alongside that he also took time to praise his staff, sharing: “This can only be attained by a team effort. It’s not just me or my manager Dave it’s all about our team. Our team in Wivenhoe they’re the best of the best so it’s also an accolade to them, so thank you.”

Henley’s of Wivenhoe has now been in the final three for the Quality Accreditation award two years in a row, and manager Dave Patterson is keen to go one step further next year.

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Discussing what steps they would implement he said: “We just need to progress, learn what we’ve done wrong this year, put it right and come back and win it next year.”

Finally, Henley mentioned the challenges fish and chip shops around the country are facing due to rising costs of materials, and how they still want to deliver good value for money.

He said: “Every business is struggling these days [with] our challenges, our costs, our margins. What we have to do is give good value for money, a good product, but also to look after our team as well.