“It couldn’t have come at a better time,” said Iain Norrington, manager of the Trawlerman in Basingstoke, following the chippy’s recent win at the Fish & Chip Shop of the Year Awards.
Scooping this year’s Heinz PleazMe! Award for excellent customer service has particular poignancy with the credit crunch taking hold and customers cutting back where possible.
“To earn this kind of award at the start of a recession is a blessing,” he said. “You are just set up for it better. People may not be eating out as much, but if you’ve got your customer service right, you’ll get them to come back, which is the crucial thing.”
Celebrating its 25th birthday this year, The Trawlerman, a traditional fish and chip shop in the heart of Basingstoke’s Chineham Shopping Centre, was presented with the Heinz PleazMe trophy at January’s high profile 21st Fish & Chip of the Year Awards, run by Seafish and hosted by TV chef Simon Rimmer at the Park Plaza Riverbank, London.
To enter the contest, sponsored by Heinz SqueezMe!, fish and chip shops had to go ‘the extra mile’, demonstrating customer loyalty, excellent point of sale material, varied side orders, innovative promotions and meal deals in-house and locally and use of brands on menus. For the first time, this year, they also had to show impressive product knowledge.
Meeting this criteria was all in a day’s work for the Trawlerman, one of three chippies in Hampshire run by family firm Coach Caterers, which has believed good customer service is key ever since the company was founded by local businessman Ben Rothwell 50 years ago.
“We actually started out in the bus stations of Salisbury, gradually building up to 60 catering units,” said Iain, who transferred from Coach Caterers’ head office to steer the Trawlerman in 1999. “We got into fish and chips in the early 60s when the motorways came along, and later diversified into pizza. When this didn’t work out due to the explosion of pizza chains, we went back to what we knew best - fish and chips. This year, we celebrate our 25th birthday in the business.
“What has never changed since the very start is our attitude to good customer service. We earned our first Seafish Quality Award the year after I joined the management team and have won it every year since,” said Iain. “In fact, I found out only today that we have now earned our five star award, which is a wonderful reflection of the service we offer.”
The Trawlerman’s full time staff are the backbone of the business; assistant manager Daniel, team leader Cathy and restaurant assistant Elsie, who are in their 50s but still affectionately regarded as ‘girls’, and a third team leader Kelvin. However, they couldn’t do it without their band of young, part-time staff, who give their all until they leave for college or university.
“I am so pleased for my staff that they won this award,” said Iain. “They all work incredibly hard, from the oldest to the youngest, to keep our customers happy and well-fed, and this is a great recognition for the solid effort they put in each day.”
And what are the other secrets to success? “As a company, we have always concentrated on training and I also believe the independents are just much better at customer service than the bigger boys,” said Iain. “We also understand our customers are paying our wages and are keeping us going. When you build up a good reputation, you don’t want to lose that and we stand firm by our philosophy of personal care and attention. We have many regulars who we are on first name terms with and also try to remember orders where we can, although this can sometimes be difficult!”
Turning over up to £10,000 and serving 3,000 portions a week, the Trawlerman, which proudly just sells fish and chips, no burgers, no kebabs, but does this extremely well, is testament to how a chippy can become an integral part of the community.
“We have a group of regular customers in their fifties who always meet here on a Friday night and we make them feel right at home,” he said. “If there is a charity event in our community, we will also happily donate prizes.
“Over the counter, we offer loyalty cards and money off vouchers, but when it comes to meal deals per se, I don’t think fish and chip shops are really placed to do this as opposed to, say, places like KFC. Although, with the recession hitting, we will look to introduce more deals and increase our loyalty card offering if it will help.”
In terms of impressive product knowledge, the Trawlerman is totally on the ball. “One way we get a message across is putting up a ‘do you know where today’s lunch came from?’ sign, letting customers know we use the trawler Kapitan Gromptsev which nets its catch from the Faroe Islands near Iceland,” said Iain. “Our industry know its boats and has been switched on to issues surrounding sustainability for years. It’s just communicating that to customers.
“As well as cod, haddock and plaice, we also serve pangascius, a river fish from Vietnam as it’s a highly sustainable option, and we like to let our customers know about it.
“Essentially, our business is all about attention to detail and by winning the PleazMe! Award, we can hopefully communicate to customers who we are and the way we work, and encourage them to pay us a visit.”
The Trawlerman beat runners-up The Real Food Café in Tyndrum, Perthshire, and Petrou Bros in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, to the PleazMe! Award after impressing mystery shopper Heinz Foodservice brand manager Shonali Bandopadhyay.
“The Trawlerman takes customer service with a smile to the next level,” she said. “Friendly staff truly have impressive knowledge about their products, from sustainability to the impact each meal has on dietary restrictions. Quite uniquely, Trawlerman also offers a lunchtime delivery service to local businesses.
“I was particularly impressed with the staff’s enthusiasm for pre-empting customers’ needs, providing free bread and butter and condiments plus money off vouchers at quiet times to boost trade, a welcome touch in these harsh, economic times. A thoroughly deserving shop absolutely worth a visit.”
For more information on Fish and Chip Shop of the Year, visit www.seafish.org.
References
1. Fish & Chip Shop of the Year, celebrating its 21st birthday, is the official hunt for the UK’s finest fish frier. This year’s overall winner – The Anstruther Fish Bar - was recognised for its high standards of quality, customer service, innovation, food hygiene and commitment to building a sustainable future. The PleazMe! SqueezMe! Award is in its second year
2. Seafish was established by the Government in 1981 and is a non-departmental public body. It works with the whole UK seafood industry – fishermen, processors, distributors, wholesalers, importers, exporters, seafood farmers, fish friers, caterers and retailers – delivering the expert knowledge, skills and support to help the UK seafood industry secure a sustainable and profitable future.
3. SqueezMe! is as innovative as its name suggests, with its ergonomic packaging blending style with ease of use – fast food customers have maximum sauce control with no mess or fuss. Available in 26ml packs (cases of 100) SqueezMe! contains three times the sauce of an average sachet.