Super size me

When Ken used his redundancy money in 2001 to buy a run-down fish and chip takeaway in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, he had no idea that ten years later he would be opening his third Kenny’s and that it would be a vast half an acre site complete with a restaurant that seats 160 and a takeaway.
“I was a supermarket manager by background so I’m used to dealing with huge stores and with the industry moving towards bigger and better it seemed a logical step to take this site on,” says an unphased Ken.
Situated approximately half a mile from the historical Conisbrough Castle, and in close proximity to the M18 and A1M motorways, the site Ken chose to refurbish was a nightclub in a previous existence – and a rather unattractive one at that. An unimaginative, 1960s square box, it was dominated by dull reddish brown bricks, which would have sent most people running immediately.
With Ken able to see the potential of this huge site, he worked alongside Elite Shopfitters to bring it back to life. Work started firstly on the outside where a clean white render finish was applied to the ground floor areas of wall, while the existing timber framed windows and doors were replaced with a series of black powder coated aluminium versions. Black powder coated aluminium fascia signs with illuminated white logos completed the look outside.
But it’s inside where the changes are the most striking. The beer cellar has been ripped out and replaced by the main prep and storage space, the bar area is now a stunning takeaway and the dance floors have made way for tables with soft leather and fabric fixed seating.
To break up the square nature of the building inside, new internal walls have been constructed along with multi level ceilings, while a mix of dark and natural oak tables, screens, Axminster carpet, luxurious wallpaper and textured limestone wall tiles provide a modern yet cosy eating environment. But that’s not the half of it because with a room still to refurbish upstairs, the business could soon be serving an additional 80 covers.
Ken didn’t hold back in the takeaway either where a glass mosaic tiled counter with granite worktop, white gloss wall tiles and black slate effect floor tiles complete the modern look.
Mindful of the older profile of those that consume fish and chips, Ken’s been careful to include several traditional elements in the form of images depicting the historic Conisbrough Castle on the walls throughout.
With various members of the family now taking the helm at Kenny’s Worksop and Retford shops, Ken is based here full time where he works alongside a completely new team of waiting staff, but experienced friers.
“In order to keep the standards the same, we’ve brought over some very experienced staff who have all been taught the Kenny’s way of frying fish and chips, ensuring all three shops are doing everything the same,” explains Ken.
With the workforce now edging over 60 employees it’s a big responsibility for Ken and one he didn’t see coming. “As the other two businesses grew I suddenly realised that I was no longer working for myself – which had been my long term ambition – but was now working to keep other people. So that’s another reason why I opened this shop, to secure a future for all the people working for us.”
Despite being a huge 160 seater restaurant Ken maintains the business is, and always will be, a traditional fish and chip shop. Currently selling cod, haddock and plaice, the only new item Ken can see himself adding to the menu in the near future is a catch of day.
Unlike many other fish and chips shops, Kenny’s uses victoria potatoes, which Ken believes make for a much tastier chip than maris pipers, and Henry Colbeck’s own brand batter mix. “It’s not an expensive brand, but it’s nice and light and it gives us the consistency that we look for.”
With the extra capacity at Kenny’s latest opening, Ken made the decision to use Conisbrough almost as a central processing unit for the other two businesses. Moving the existing equipment over from the Worksop shop, each morning the potatoes are now chipped and peeled here, the fish is boned and portioned, and distributed to the other two takeaways.
“Instead of three people doing potatoes we have one and the same goes for the fish,” says Ken.
Resulting in a cost saving in terms of staff and equipment, Ken does have the added expense of distributing the produce, but he believes it’s less about money and more about keeping a tight control on the quality of goods going out in order and maintaining high standards. “We have to keep very good stock and order records so we know we are taking the right amount as we don’t want to over or under-produce. But we have really good experienced managers who are able to get it right nearly every time.”
While the potato prep equipment may have been transferred over from the previous shop, everything else here has been purchased brand new through Hopkins, with finance secured by Fry-online Finance. This includes the dishwasher, microwave and ice cream machine to fish fridges, hot water boilers and the pièce de résistance - a six pan Hopkins range.
In the past Ken has bought traditional ranges, but at the new shop he decided it was time to embrace technology and put in a high efficiency one.
“I’ve heard a lot about high efficiency ranges recently and I felt we needed to move forward and go with the times,” he says. Like many fish and chip shops though Ken still prefers to open fry rather than utilise the basket frying method that these ranges are set up for, explaining: “We are still traditional and as we were all trained to open fry we decided that was the way we wanted to keep it.”
A feature that he has fully come to grips with, however, is a boost button on the range which means every time a bucket of chips is added to the pan the drop in temperature is hardly noticeable, which speeds up frying.
As well as embracing high efficiency, the business has moved forward in many other ways, for example, Kenny’s now accepts credit cards. “For a small takeaway it wouldn’t have been worth it because of the charges involved, but every restaurant these days has to be able to accept card payments; customers certainly expect it.” With the percentage of people paying by credit card increasing by the day, it communicates to customers that Kenny’s is a user friendly business. “It’s part of the overall package that we offer and it means we can compete with the likes of Domino’s and offer the same range of services that they do,” he adds.
Diversifying slightly from fish and chips and enabling Kenny’s to appeal to an even wider market, the new site sells prepared sandwiches in the takeaway on a sale or return bases. “It’s a part of the business that is definitely growing as word of mouth gets round and once it becomes more established we would like to start making them ourselves,” adds Ken.
Other avenues the savvy chip shop owner wants to explore here are deliveries and internet ordering, which are currently in place at the Worksop arm. “They’ve had a huge impact on business,” explains Ken. “Overall they account for 20% of the business of which probably 50% is increased business.”
With the shop only having opened in August, it’s not surprising that it’s looking at achieving a hygiene rating of five by the local council, but Ken is confident that should the health inspector return next year, or even five years down the line, it will still be worthy of top marks. “Hygiene and cleanliness are essential parts of the offering that we have. It’s not enough these days to have a place that is well decorated, it has to be kept spotlessly clean. And for that we have our own staff that clean everything down at the end of the day and again before we start in the morning.”
As word of mouth gets around Conisbrough that there’s a new fish and chip shop in town, business in the restaurant is growing every week and Ken envisages that by Christmas it will be running close to capacity. His main concern moving forward will then be to maintain the same high standards set out in the beginning.
“As we get busier the challenge of keeping standards high gets harder, but we are a family concern which means we all do things the same way. You can walk into any one of my shops and you will not be able to differentiate between the products. We all really get a thrill out of frying top quality fish and chips and seeing that the customer is satisfied with the end product.”