Englands Business Awards: Chicken Cottage best in Yorkshire

Chicken Cottage, on Bradford Road in Shipley, gained the accolade at the Yorkshire edition of the England Business Awards earlier this month.

The takeaway came through a field of stiff competition to earn the title at a ceremony at Leeds' Marriott Hotel.

It now means owners of 17 years Zulfiqar Ali and his wife can look forward to a grand final, which brings all the regions together, in Birmingham later this year.

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"We absolutely did not expect to win the award," they said.

"It was amazing to see so many businesses from all the different industries come together and hear how they have come through the pandemic.

Chicken Cottage bosses collected the award at a special ceremony in Leeds (Image: Google)

"We were up against all sorts of eateries ranging from takeaways to cafes. We just took up the invite and treated it as a night out.

"It was our customers that voted for us and that meant we reached the top three finalists in the category.

"It was absolutely amazing to win the award, not just for us, but Bradford as a city."

Chicken Cottage is renowned in the local community for its tasty grilled and fried chicken served with a range of sides.

Last month, the Telegraph & Argus reported on the takeaway's Just Eat rating and it achieved a solid five out of six from nearly 4,000 reviews.

One customer who left a six-star review said: "Forget KFC, these guys are the best."

The takeaway was named best eatery in the whole of Yorkshire (Image: Google)

The couple feels they have earned the gong by keeping it simple.

They added: "We have been running Chicken Cottage for 17 years now and have never received anything like this before.

"The customers say they are not surprised because they enjoy the food so much.

"We have seen an increase in custom since winning the award.

"We sell fried and grilled chicken with chips. It is a simple concept, that seems to just work.

"We are not sure how well we will do in the grand final. We are just really shocked to make it this far."

The pair ended by thanking their customers for sticking by them through difficult times, adding: "We are only a small business that employs nine people, including me and my husband.

"I just want to say a big thank you to all our customers for having our backs, especially through the pandemic."