Salt House takes top chip shop title

One of the most tightly-contested categories in the annual LCN Awards is Fish and Chip Shop of the Year – many of the best takeaways in the country compete for the title and our independent judges are usually sorely tested when it comes to selecting a winner from the line-up.

This year, the title of LCN Fish and Chip Shop of the Year went to The Salt House on Rathmore Road in Bangor after judges praised the “top-notch food” at the outlet and the staff, who, they said, were “cheerful, efficient and helpful”.

Michael Neill (45), is the entrepreneur behind the winning brand. An engineer by trade, Bangor-born Michael worked off-shore for many years before returning to Northern Ireland in search of a fresh business in which to invest.

“I just thought that maybe it was time to manage something a bit more hands on and that was the beginning of it,” he told LCN recently. “I was looking for something that was going to be a strong business and something that would give me the opportunity to make a mark of my own.”

Michael’s first foray into the takeaway business was in 2003 when he opened a 52-cover, sit-in fish and chip restaurant at Frances Street in Newtownards. The business was called The Frying Squad and over the next seven years or so, the network grew to include six branches across Northern Ireland.

“We grew so effectively because we were franchising the Frying Squad brand,” recalls Michael. “We did that for a number of years before coming to the conclusion that it wasn’t working as well for us as we thought it could. A lot of the success depends on the franchisees themselves, of course, and it can be a difficult model to control and to get right.”

Michael called a halt to the franchising format in 2010 and trimmed the network back to three outlets in Bangor which are owned and managed by a head office team.  A short time later, he opened another take-away on the Westland Road in Cookstown.

More recently, he has also introduced a secondary brand – The Salt House – to sit alongside his established Frying Squad trademark.

“What we know is that The Frying Squad is a strong name that works well for us, particularly in specific locations, while the newer Salt House brand offers a slightly more bespoke and refined offering. It’s also a bit more focused on local produce…We felt that we had an opportunity with the different locations and different demographics to really maximise our offering.”

Michael’s various outlets have won a staggering number of awards over the years, including several UK-wide accolades won via the National Fish and Chip Awards. He now adds his LCN title to that proud record:

“Awards like this are an important recognition for the business and they do a lot to build the morale of the staff, so it’s very positive” he said. “Historically, we’ve done very well in terms of awards and in 2008, we were the first business in this sector in Northern Ireland to be accredited by Investors in People. We also won the Best Takeaway in NI at the inaugural British Takeaway Awards last year.”

Michael believes that much of the brands’ success comes down to consistency and while he feels that some operators might be content to use cheaper ingredients, his attitude has always been to “give no quarter” when it comes to quality of the produce.

“It’s important for the business to look good as well. When we did The Salt House rebrand, we brought in a fresh new look to some of the outlets, a different colour scheme and, in some locations, we offer a different, more health-orientated menu, including the use of Rapeseed oil at particular sites, which is healthier and suitable for vegetarians.”

Priorities now for the business revolve around quality, consistency of offering and customer service – Michael believes that “everything else is secondary to a degree”:

“We’re not planning on expanding left, right and centre, that’s not what we’re about. But when we see an opportunity which suits, we’ll take it if we think it stacks up. I would say that we are probably going to be looking at three or four new sites over the next couple of years.”

Michael is also currently working on two new outlets, although he won’t say where they are. He hopes to have both open by early next year.

Our picture at the top shows the team from the winning Salt House branch (from left), Michael Neill, Emma Dempster, Megan Steel, Ryan Gowdy, Julie Wallace and supervisor, Angela Crothers.