The Regeneration Game

We often hear the claim that the fish and chip shop is at the centre of the community. But nowhere is this more true than in Woodley, Stockport, where Anne Wallace and her team at Taylors Fish and Chips have lead the regeneration of their shopping precinct and provided a training facility for the young people of Woodley.
Anne’s family first entered the trade in the 1920s when her great grandmother opened a shop in Birdwell, Barnsley, cooking on a coal range and wrapping fish and chips in newspaper. Taylors has been in its current premises in The Precinct for 26 years. In 2000 Anne’s father died and two years later Anne and her husband decided they would close the shop. They called the staff together to explain the situation and the response was “train us and we will take over the running of the business for you”. And here starts a remarkable story of training which led to the regeneration of an entire shopping precinct.
“We took the challenge very seriously and set up a program to cover all aspects of the business,” says Anne. “This included putting staff through the Seafish fish frying and customer service courses, various NVQs in leadership and management, as well as health and hygiene and first aid qualifications. The result was a highly committed and well trained staff workforce.”
Taylors then focused on awards - in particular ones associated with training. “We didn’t have funds to create a marketing budget, so instead we entered awards and each time we were successful we obtained free publicity in the local media. The result was that our turnover doubled in 12 months. This strategy is open to any shop that takes training and entering for prestigious awards seriously. There is an investment in time but the rewards in terms of staff motivation and additional business are well worth it,” believes Anne.
The list of awards that Taylors holds is endless – it was the first fish and chip shop to be awarded Investors in People and in 2004 won the National Training Award and also the Seafish Training Award at the Fish and Chip Shop of The Year Awards.
In 2006, Taylors added to its impressive winning streak when it entered an initiative called the Edge Award, which celebrates and rewards employers offering great practical learning opportunities for young people. The shop won and with that came a prize of £25,000 to invest in further training.
As the recession started to bite in the North West, Taylors noticed that although the shop was doing well, trade in general was poor. People had stopped coming to the precinct, shops were closing down and the area was starting to look tired and run-down. Taking a look at the wider picture the team could see a situation where their footfall could become adversely affected. Then came the stroke of genius.
Taylors rented a closed down shop two doors away from its restaurant, which it turned into a coffee shop called Startpoint. The staff invested the £25,000 prize from Edge into creating a training centre for IT and customer service.
This informal adult learning centre has brought people back to the precinct and once again the area is vibrant and alive. Startpoint has become a meeting hub for the local people and, of course, it is only two doors away from the fish and chip shop. As footfall in the precinct has increased, so too has footfall for the shop and in turn trade has gone up.
But the story doesn’t end there. In January 2011 Taylors opened its own training school. Although it’s not a dedicated fish friers’ training school it is a project for the community which is bringing benefits to Taylors and enhancing the reputation of the fish and chip trade.
Groups of eight young people who are not in education, employment or training are recruited for a six week course which combines formal desk work in the training centre with hands on experience in the fish and chip shop and the coffee shop.
“Most of these young people do not have a pattern to their life,” explains Anne. “We offer them training in social and personal development and show them what is expected of them in the workplace for the future in terms of punctuality, dress code and so on. It’s the hands on experience in our businesses that brings the course to life for them. We benefit not only from their work but from word of mouth in the community.”
Prior to the establishment of the training school, Taylors offered work experience in its fish and chip business. Fortunately it is well laid out with wide and roomy counter serving and frying areas to facilitate on the job training.
One young person of whom Anne is very proud is 18 year old Jamie Toland. He started when he was 14 for a two week work experience but liked the business so much that he stayed on with the shop on a part-time basis for two years. When he turned 16 he was formally employed and was so enthusiastic that within a year he was a team leader. Anne describes Jamie as a great asset to the business, adding: “He confirms our faith in encouraging and training young people.”   
Customers are equally delighted to see Jamie behind the counter, describing him as “an absolutely fantastic member of staff” and “an ambassador for young people“. But it wasn’t Jamie’s idea of a dream job at first he admits. “I wasn’t very happy when my school told me that the only opportunity of work experience was in a fish and chip shop. I imagined the sort of comments I was going to get from my friends. But once I started at Taylors I really enjoyed it and asked to say on. I came to love it and now have a passion for frying and want to make a career in the fish and chips trade. “
Anne realises that none of the above would be possible without a successful fish and chip business behind it. The coal range and the newspaper wrapping may have changed since the 1920s but the philosophy of the business remains the same.
“We pride ourselves in the exceptionally high quality of our product. We are a traditional shop offering fish and chips, pies and sausages. We also believe in the traditional value of loyalty, realising the benefits of quality and consistency even if it costs a little more. We have bought our potatoes from Davies of Denton (0161 336 6598) for 46 years; we have used Hollands Pies (www.hollandspies.co.uk) for over 40 years, and the fat, our most important ingredient, has come from Frymax (0771 433546) for over 40 years.”