Holly Tree Fish and Chips (Livesey, Blackburn), run by the Rose family, has been announced as the winner of the National Ben Shaws® Favourite Family Chippy Awards 2011.
The Ben Shaws® Favourite Family Chippy Awards were set up to recognise the hard work and commitment family run businesses put into making their livelihood a success. When deciding on the finalists, judges were particularly impressed with the strong family values coupled with their commitment to their trade and the surrounding community.
As a result of the Rose family being so proactive during the three weeks of campaigning, the competition saw over 4,000 votes come in from surrounding loyal customers. Their website hits in September trebled from those received in August, 17% of which were referred from Facebook.
As part of their prize the Rose family will receive £1,000 worth of experience vouchers, £1,000 donation to their chosen charity (Sadie’s Pot of Gold) and a year’s supply of Ben Shaws® drinks.
Winner and chip shop owner Michael Rose, explains the family’s delight at winning the award; “We are just astounded that out of all the families who entered these prestigious National awards a ‘proper’ local chippy from Blackburn, that we took on only 6 years ago, has gone and won! A bit of good news won’t go amiss in Blackburn at the moment!”.
Julie Rose added “we couldn’t have done it without the support of our wonderfully loyal customers and the help from the Ben Shaws® team. We are particularly proud of all who work with us at Holly Tree – they’ve worked tirelessly helping us attract the votes! It’s been a lot of hard work but we have had great fun campaigning to encourage our customers to vote for us – we’re on top of the world!”.
Judy Banks, Sadie’s mother, commented on behalf of the shop’s selected charity ‘Sadie’s Pot of Gold’ – “we’re so happy that Michael and Julie’s family have won – we’re very grateful for their ongoing support for Sadie’s fund. Many people will benefit from this prize money – this fund means so much to our whole family’’.
Ben Shaws® prides itself on good old-fashioned family values; this competition celebrates its history and the tradition of family-run businesses. Sundeep Gill of Ben Shaws® and judge of the awards explains; “throughout the competition Holly Tree has proved how invaluable small businesses are to their local community, they are the epitome of what Ben Shaws® stands for and we are proud to call them our winner for 2011. The Rose family not only contributes economically but also supports their local infrastructure through employment and dedication to deliver a high standard of quality, training and customer satisfaction. Their drive to become proactive members of the industry and application of previous retail experience to create a fine balance between efficient corporate cultures whilst maintaining a strong local heritage placed them as finalists and this now proves to be a winning formula”.
The Ben Shaws® range includes a number of old fashioned favourites, best enjoyed with fish and chips including Dandelion and Burdock, Cream Soda and Traditional Cloudy Lemonade.
In the penultimate week of campaigning for the Ben Shaws® Favourite Family Chippy Awards, we ventured over rolling hills and foggy moors to the beautiful seaside town of Whitby (North Yorkshire). We were visiting the Fusco family, who run the Royal Fisheries – our third family chippy.
The day started with a meet and greet with the whole family, including a tour of their massive 70 seat restaurant that had just been finished this year ready for the busy summer rush of tourists. With a knock at the door the press call had started with photographs for the local paper, Whitby Gazette and interviews for North Yorkshire Radio.
Shortly following this, the task in hand was to take to the streets of Whitby. Here we encouraged local customers and tourists to vote for the Royal Fisheries to become this year’s Favourite Family Chippy.
Already famous within their locality, many people openly expressed their support of the local family business and had already voted. Some were looking for a place for lunch and voted once they had sampled the local delights. Most already knew that the Fusco family were in the running for the Ben Shaws® Favourite Family Chippy Award but hadn’t got around to voting – so took the chance to vote and sample a Ben Shaws® beverage.
We finished the day on a high leaving the Fusco family with a queue of customers out the door, all keen to have their free can of Ben Shaws® with their chippy tea.
With only a few days left to vote, the final three chippies go head to head in the battle to become the next Ben Shaws® Favourite Family Chippy for 2011. So get your votes in quick and let us know why your favourite family chippy should win this year – and remember, you could be in with a chance of winning an ipod!
On Friday 16th September, the Rose family welcomed us into ‘Holly Tree Fish & Chips’ in Livesey (Blackburn). For the second Ben Shaws® Chippy Friday, the day was already looking bright when customers started turning up from 11:30am to vote for their favourite family chippy to win the award.
Local press came down for a press call with the Rose family and their famous fish and chips, with the family portrait making it onto the front page of the Lancashire Telegraph. Michael Rose said “it’s like looking at a reflection of Tom Cruise” - we’ll let you make up your own mind on that one!
Following the photo shoot, the Ben Shaws® team encouraged customers to vote for their favourite family chippy and try a can of Ben Shaws®. They had their pick of cloudy lemonade, cream soda, bitter shandy or dandelion and burdock – which came out on top.
Heading into town, the team visited the local shopping centre The Mall in Blackburn where they met a lot of fans of the Holly Tree - all looking forward to their chippy tea that evening.
We spoke to one customer who comes all the way from Chorley, just to buy her and her husband their chippy tea every Friday night “I come over every Friday, their fish and chips are the best and they are so welcoming, definitely my Favourite Family Chippy!”.
So the battle is now in full swing and we’re on the East coast this coming Friday (23rd September) for the final Chippy Friday at the ‘Royal Fisheries’ in Whitby. If you haven’t already, make sure you vote for your Favourite Family Chippy here or in store.
…and in case you needed to find your way to pop in and say hi to the Rose family, their address is: Holly Tree Fish & Chips, 6 Pinewood, Holly Tree Village, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB2 5AD.
On Friday 9th September the Pearce family who run Weymouth based ‘Alf’s Fish & Chips’, took to the streets to campaign and invite their customers to vote for them to become the Ben Shaws® Favourite Family Chippy for 2011.
The day kicked off with a tour of the chip shop with John Pearce, followed by a bacon sandwich and a lovely cup of tea to set us up for a fun day of campaigning!
Following this, we got to work straight away with a press call for the local Weymouth papers. The Pearce family, with their Family Chippy pinnies and caps on, gave interviews and had their photo taken whilst getting potatoes peeled and fish battered ready for the lunchtime rush.
The Ben Shaws® team then took to the local area and visited local businesses, spreading the word of the competition and letting people know how they can vote for Alf’s Fish & Chips in this year’s awards.
The Pearce family proved to already be extremely popular in their locality and were known for their work within the community. The team spoke to a lot of people who were already big fans of the family business and had already voted – they had a great response.
When we returned to the shop, we were greeted by over 150 school children who had come for their after school chips… and a can of Ben Shaws®, the favourite flavours being Cloudy Lemonade and Cream Soda.
We caught a word with some of their customers:
“They are such a gem within the local community; we’ve been coming here for years!” Dawn Davies, local community member. “John and Karen are well known in Weymouth, they look after us they do!”
You can vote for Alf’s online here and in store – their voting books are filling up so make sure you add your signature!
The next Chippy Friday is on 16th September and sees ‘Holly Tree’ (Blackburn) campaign to become the next Ben Shaws® Favourite Family Chippy, following this the ‘Royal Fisheries’ will take to the streets of Whitby as part of their Chippy Friday on 23rd September.
We are proud to announce the three finalists who will compete in the Ben Shaws® Chippy Friday Finals.
The Favourite Family Chippy Judges; Thomas Pick Media Co-Ordinator from the National Federation of Fish Friers, Helen Edmonds Editor of Fry Magazine and Sundeep Gill Assistant Brand Manager at Cott Beverages, deliberated over entries which came in from all over the UK.
After looking for a family run chippy which demonstrated strong family values and success in their locality, they collectively decided on the final three chippies. Located across the UK the top three are;
Royal Fisheries Whitby, The Holly Tree Blackburn and Alf’s Fish and Chips Weymouth.
Sundeep Gill, Assistant Brand Manager of Cott Beverages explains;
“All three finalists are top quality fish and chip shops with strong family values. It was hard to choose between the high calibres of entries we had this year. We believe family run businesses are part of the makeup of the fish and chip industry and we are proud to be able to support them.”
Each ‘Chippy Friday Final’ gives the finalists a chance to campaign and encourage customers to vote for them in store and online. They will be handing out samples of their fish and chips as well as Ben Shaws® merchandise and product.
The first to take to the streets will be Alf’s Fish and Chips in Weymouth on Friday 9 September; the second will be The Holly Tree in Blackburn on 16 September and finally Royal Fisheries in Whitby on 23 September.
You can vote online here and in store.
Voting is now open and will close on Monday 3rd October; the winner will be announced on Friday 7th October.
