Beacon Road Fisheries, Wibsey, is T&A Best Chippy finalist

The T&A received 2,237 nominations for the competition through our online voting platform. The list has now been whittled down to the final 10 - and we aim to profile all of them during the coming days.

Beacon Road Fisheries in Wibsey, run by co-owners Alex Butler and Cheri Smith, is one of the finalists.

They are carrying on a long tradition of a chippy in that location. 

Alex said: “We’re really grateful to be nominated for this award. It shows we do a good job and our customers appreciate us.

“If our customers keep coming back, we’re doing something right.

“Wibsey’s a big area, but we’re a compact little shop and traditional takeaway.

“We’ve been doing it for seven years and we had another fish and chip shop in Northowram seven years before that.

Alex Butler and Cheri Smith at Beacon Road Fisheries after its 2021 refurbishment (Image: Newsquest)

“Our shop’s been really busy, particularly since we completed a refurbishment in 2021.

“Our customers come for not only the quality food but the banter.

“We have a traditional menu with food that’s done in a traditional way.

“We have homemade batter with a secret recipe that’s unique to us.

“We also use only the best Icelandic haddock and serve a good portion at a fair price.

“Haddock is what our customers want, so we buy the best we can.”

Alex said the Wibsey chippy is proud of achieving another five-star hygiene rating last year.

Alex Butler and Cheri Smith at Beacon Road Fisheries were awarded a five-star hygiene rating (Image: Newsquest)

“We achieved a five-star rating that many years on the trot,” said Alex, who also spoke about how loyal their customers are.

“People travel from quite far away to have our fish and chips. They’ll move away and then come back to see their family and come back for the food," he said.

Alex also recently came across an old picture which shows the Beacon Road chippy in 1904.

He said: “I don’t know when it opened exactly but this picture shows that there was a fish and chip shop here 120 years ago.

“We must be one of the oldest fish and chip shops in Bradford. This shop has had a fair run.”

Alex also spoke about getting into the chippy business at a young age.

“It was a friend who showed me what to do,” he said. “I fancied a change from being an ICT technician at a school.

“We came into the fish and chip shop industry at quite a young age. We got our first shop at age 21. We’re 34 and 35 now.”

• We aim to profile all of the finalists during the coming days. To vote for your favourite, pick up a copy of the Telegraph & Argus and fill out the coupon.