Fish shop serving villagers for 100 years is struggling to keep going

A FAMILY-RUN Yorkshire fish and chip shop that has been serving for more than 100 years says it is fighting to survive due to the increased cost of living.

Mark Savage, owns The Village Fish Shop in Shadwell, near

Leeds, which has been providing a fish supper for customers since at least 1911.

He himself was brought up at the fish and chip shop, still owns it and lives at the property, which was built in 1637 and is the oldest building in Shadwell.

But Mr Savage said the rising costs of electric and gas, alongside the increasing cost of fish is having a huge impact on his business.

He has had to put prices up three times within the last 10 months but says they are only just managing to keep their heads above water.

He said: “The price of gas trebled, my electric bill doubled, the price of fish has rocketed up.

“From being a profitable business we are just keeping our heads above water now and that’s about it. That’s where we are.

“I was born into the business 56 years ago and have worked in the trade since I was 13 but I have never known times to be so tough when everything seems to be going against us.”

It comes as industry expert, Andrew Crook, president of the Leeds-based National Federation of Fish Friers, previously warned that fish and chip shops could close in big numbers over the next five years.

The war in Ukraine has also impacted on costs of fish coming from Russia and the industry has suffered from inflated costs for ingredients, prompting a call on the Government to introduce VAT relief for business owners.