UK Top 10 young fish friers revealed
The shortlist for the Drywite Young Fish Frier of the Year Award category of the 2015 National Fish & Chip Awards, organised by Seafish, has been revealed.
The 10 up-and-coming young friers shortlisted are: Kat Deuchars of John Dorys, Belfast; Lisa Lishman and Andrew Hillier of Harbourside Fish & Chips, Plymouth, Devon; Ryan Hughes of The Crispy Cod Fish Bar, Tonyrefail, South Wales; Murray Watson of Carron Chip Shop, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire; Amy Grimwood of Mister C's, Selby, North Yorkshire; Rachel Tweedale of The Elite Fish & Chip Company, Sleaford, Lincolnshire; Amanpal Dhesi of Brockfield Fisheries, Huntington, North Yorkshire; James Hulston of Our Plaice, Stourbridge, West Midlands and Jonathan Leech of Garstang Fish & Chips, Garstang, Lancashire.
The top 10 candidates will now attend a testing day at the National Federation of Fish Friers (NFFF) Training School in Leeds, Yorkshire, where they will undergo a skills based assessment and a personal interview.
Briar Wilkinson, sales director at Drywite, said: "The Drywite Young Fish Frier of the Year Award was originally founded in 1995 by the directors of Drywite Limited, myself and Kelvin Lee, in memory of our late father who always had a passion for encouraging young people to succeed.
"He would be so proud of the high-standards that have been set due to this award and the aspiring young individuals who consistently strive to achieve greatness. This year's candidates have been no exception and we wish them all the best in the competition."
The next stage of the competition will whittle down the candidates to the top six finalists, who will then receive a mystery judging shop visit at their respective workplace. The final six friers will then battle it out at the awards ceremony set to be held at the Lancaster London hotel on 20 January 2015.