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.