Here’s another fishy story, this time from Liverpudlian, Banayiotis Zeniou. He’s been up to his ears in fish for many years, latterly importing frozen sushi, till he had a flash of inspiration and decided to open his own fish and chip shop.
So, the Fylde Fish Bar, a takeaway and restaurant in Southport, was born. That was nearly three years ago and since then Ban, as he’s known locally, has steered his venture to success by winning an award in the Best Newcomer category at this year’s National Fish & Chip awards. Spurred on by this acclaim, this month he’s just opened his second shop, called Fish and Chips at the Plaza.
Ban told us:
I had a five year plan to open two shops, and I’ve done it in three. I’ve also broken the record for the quickest shop fit, taking four weeks from getting the keys to opening.
This was, in part, due to the help that Johnson Reed gave in providing frying equipment leasing. With £40,000 over 36 months, Ban had enough funding to purchase a brand new Hopkins range and a number of other key items of equipment.
He was really pleased that he called on our services:
We were recommended to Johnson Reed and we’ve found them to be competitive, professional and they offered a fast turnaround. They’ve also made it easier for us by explaining in full our end of lease options in advance of signing. There are no nasty surprises at the end of the period, which we had with our previous loan company.
And the nice thing for us was that we offered Ban the best rates in town, so we were able to beat off several other quotes. That’s the way we like to work with all of our customers.
