T&A Best Chippy: Doyle's Fisheries, Shipley, is in running

Doyle’s Fisheries, in Otley Road, Shipley is one of 10 fish and chip shops across the district that have been shortlisted for the T&A’s Best Chippy 2024 competition.

We have received 2,237 nominations for the contest through our online voting platform, and are currently in the process of profiling the finalists in print and online.

Paul McNicholas, who runs Doyle’s, said: “It’s a brilliant achievement, it sort of shows we’ve been recognised, in a way.

“It is hard at the moment in the fish and chip industry, with the cost of living – a lot are going under.”

Doyle's Fisheries, in Otley Road, Shipley (Image: Google Street View)

Doyle’s conversely has been ticking over for 15 years now and gets particularly busy on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

Mr McNicholas said: “We have lots of regulars, all from Shipley, coming shopping, especially the elderly – they do their shopping here then come down for their dinner.”

He has been running the chippie for nine years, after taking over from his dad when he retired, and believes the building housed a hardware shop before them, as well as being banks in the past.

Mr McNicholas said: “We’re local originally, from Baildon, lived round Shipley all our lives.

“We wanted something local, my dad had run fish shops in the past and businesses all round Bradford.

“He took it over and converted it into a chippy.”

One of the unique selling points of Doyle’s is their cooking method, moving away from the traditional use of beef dripping for frying.

Paul McNicholas, who runs Doyle’s Fisheries, in Otley Road, Shipley (Image: Telegraph & Argus)

Mr McNicholas said: “We’re frying our fish in oil, it attracts a lot of Asians, and it’s a lot cleaner.”

It means Britain’s favourite dish is accessible to all walks of life at Doyle’s, including those who are coeliac.

Mr McNicholas said: “It’s opened more and more avenues, fish and chips all day long.

“We cater for gluten-free – you might have one coeliac in the family but the rest of the family can eat as well.”

And what of any strange requests over the years? Mr McNicholas’s first answer comes as no surprise.

He said: “We’ve been asked for all sorts, battered Mars Bars, that can’t happen.

“There’s a lot of regulars, we have a laugh with them, they’re all funny and people get on really well.”

Doyle’s is open from 11.30am until 6.30pm most days; 11.30am until 1.30pm and then 4pm until 6.30pm on Wednesdays, 11.30am until 7pm on Fridays, 11.30am until 4pm on Saturdays; and closed on Sundays and Mondays.

• We aim to have profiled all of the finalists during the coming days. To vote for your favourite, pick up a copy of the T&A and fill out the coupon.