Thrilled to bits – chip shop opens in China

A YORKSHIRE fish and chip shop has opened a new branch in China.

Scotts Fish And Chips, in York, has proved to be a big hit with Chinese tourists visiting the UK over the last 18 months. That success led to a Chinese businessman, Jimmy Yu, approaching the shop’s owner, Tony Webster, about opening a branch in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan.

Mr Webster attended the official opening in Chengdu over the weekend, and said he was “genuinely surprised” at how good the fish and chips – made to his own shop’s recipe – tasted.

“I was worried before I arrived, but they are very, very good,” he told the PA news agency. “The one thing from the beginning with Jimmy Yu – he wanted to be authentic.

“You have to tweak the menu and the flavours to the local taste, so they have Sichuan sauce, for example, as well as ketchup, but the core product has to be the authentic fish and chips and they’ve done a bloody good job on that.”

Mr Webster found success with visitors from China to Yorkshire after having his menu translated into Mandarin and establishing a presence for his shop on Chinese social media.

That saw coach parties of tourists from China eating at the shop and earned coverage in Chinese media last year, which brought it to the attention of Mr Yu.

Mr Webster was first approached by Mr Yu last December and the pair worked out a licensing agreement which saw Scotts’ first Chinese branch open less than a year later – with the potential of more to follow.

“They are looking to roll it out across China with already talk of two or three more sites next year,” Mr Webster said. The food seems to have been a success with the locals, with the only issue is that the portion sizes are too big.