Sept 2012 - Issue 6 - National Federation of Fish Friers

THE fish friers REVIEW
Roland Geordie
The thoughts of a Northern fryer,
trading in a Cornish harbour
Nothing to say?
Hello again. As I sit here in front of my keypad and the deadline
is fast approaching I just cannot come up with anything to say.
Believe it or not, I’m stumped!
This may come as a shock to some people who know me.
If I am cutting fish or doing something which is out of sight of the
customers when they come in the door and Lindsey (the Missus)
is frying, the first thing they say is, “is it his day off?” or “has he
lost his voice?”.
People often say that if you do not see me coming, you definitely
will hear me. Perhaps I am lost for words as its 11:30pm and I have
just got home after another twelve hour shift? We open our shop
at 12 midday and during the summer we open right through till
9pm. We stay open all afternoon as there are a lot of people who
visit the harbour as well as the locals.
Yes, I know, it’s only a 9 hour opening shift I hear you all say, but
there is still the cleaning and prep work before and after we open
and close. We used to open at, along with thousands of other chip
shops, 11:30am. Then one
day on the way to work, we
got stuck behind a big tractor!
Sometimes the tractors move
over when there are about 50
cars following them, but this
one didn’t. For about six miles
of our twelve mile journey
from home to work he just kept on going, all on country lanes with
no way of getting past. We were late opening and when we arrived
the natives were getting restless and peering into the window.
This got me thinking. Why do chip shops open at 11:30am?
That day we made a decision (well I won that arm wrestle with the
wife that time) to start opening at 12 midday, noon (that’s the rebel
in me!) We gave two weeks’ notice to tell our regular customers
who turn up before 12pm. It worked, in so much that we did not
lose a customer. We condensed them into the hours from midday
to when we finished. No one complained; they just accepted this
world changing event.
12
It now means that
our electric bill and
staff wages are half
an hour less per
day, which
certainly adds up
over the year. But!
Why do fish and
chip shops open at
11:30am? Who
started this? It’s too
late for breakfast
and too early for
lunch!
“
Why do chip shops
open at 11:30am?
I know of a few
shops, the ones with restaurants, that have started to open even
earlier and do breakfasts. When the tourists from “up country”
come in during the summer they cannot believe it when they see
we close at 9pm. “Come back in the winter” I say to them “we
close at 7!” We are only part timers after all.
“
Can you imagine what happens
to the national grid and the gas
supply when all the chippies in
Britain switch on at the same
time? The surge must be like
when the adverts in the middle
of Coronation Street come on
and everyone rushes to make a cuppa at the same time.
What other tips do you have to help save money and make your
working life a bit easier? Let’s have a “Top Tips” section in the
Review.
Here is one to make life a little simpler. Make a little “nick” in the
top of the potato tub, directly above where the drainhole is at the
bottom. This saves having to keep turning the tub looking for the
hole when you want to put the bung in.
Well I will have to go now as I just cannot think of a thing to
say...