Established chippy chain, Merchants Fish Bar, currently has four different sites located across the West Midlands; Bewdley, Stourbridge, Redditch and Droitwich. Specialising in quality food and service, the Merchants name symbolises the stamp of approval, and wherever a new site opens, the queue of dedicated customers isn’t far behind!
The original Bewdley site has been established for over 50 years. Owner, Mr Akathiotis, has received several awards throughout his extraordinary career, including the Seafish Friers Quality Award in 1996 and 1998.
The business as a whole continues to exceed expectation, gaining more awards and qualifications in recent years; including the Independent Takeaway of the Year Award of 2014, the Fish & Chip Feast Fundraiser Award of 2013 and Fish & Chip Shop of the Year Award in 2008.
Michael Jordan and Emma Payne are the Director duo behind the three-year-old Crabb Cross site in Redditch. The bar, takeaway and restaurant underwent a significant refurbishment and refit earlier this month, financed through unsecured loan and equipment leasing facilities by Johnson Reed.
The new frying range unit by Hewigo is entirely bespoke, with a unique design to suit the shop’s contemporary new interior. Despite satisfied customers commenting queues out of the shop would not deter them from getting their Merchants fix, the new frying range aims to reduce waiting time- and its impact on the environment!
The fixed repayment structure of the lease and loan facilities allow Michael and Emma to essentially pay for the equipment as they’re using it, whilst maintaining all-important cash flow. The high-efficiency frying range also reduces energy output, helping the business make further savings on utility bills.
We have been in the fish and chip shop industry for many years and have a number of shops with fantastic books and great relationships with our bank.
We had three projects on this year, the first being a refurb to one of our shops, another being a purchase of a new shop and the third being an outside catering business.
We’ve always been given advice that if something appreciates – buy it – and if something depreciates – lease it! This way its more tax-efficient, so that’s exactly what we did.
We chose Johnson Reed as they came highly recommended – and what a choice it was! From start to finish they gave all the help and advice you don’t receive from the banks and with the banking system relying on a computer to make a decision, it’s sometimes hard to get finance. Johnson Reed try and get to know your circumstances on a personal level and help from there.
Mr M A Jordan, Director of Merchants Fish Bar
