I have worked at Linfords since the age of 16, and from that time I have only known Linfords Fish and Chips as a Quality Award holding shop, starting with the Seafish scheme and moving into the NFFF scheme. I personally took over the shop from Pat and Paul in 2019, my first job was to maintain the excellent standard they had set for many years.

As I worked towards my first inspection in 2020 the coronavirus pandemic started and like many shops, the whole fish and chip world changed and the award was placed on hold.

Towards the end of 2020, the NFFF announced the Quality Award scheme had been evolved into the Quality Accreditation scheme, now with an online application.

In the current situation we are in I think that is fantastic, as shop owners we are looking to minimise the risk to us and our employees, risking placing an assessor in my shop for a prolonged period isn’t ideal.

People might ask ‘how can the inspection be done virtually?’ and to be honest with you I did initially think that but I can now say that it was excellent.

My inspection lasted for around 2 hours however, this was longer than expected because I spent a lot of time talking to the assessor about items away from the award.

What’s great about the virtual inspection is I was always with the assessor, so if they spotted something it was instant feedback and a discussion point to look at improving my business.

…sponsored by Sarsons

For me the involvement with Sarsons is great as the brand is consumer facing. As a business we do use the product but even if we didn’t, I still personally think its great to have them involved.

Although we shout about our previous awards not everyone else does.  With the red ‘Q’ and the Sarsons branding it gives the award something our customers recognise. Public awareness is already there with the Sarsons brand, and we have found that our customers have been more engaged and asked us about it scheme.

…so why undertake the new NFFF Quality Accreditation scheme

Why wouldn’t you? As a fish and chip shop owner you can be stuck in your own bubble, and you think everything in your shop is perfect and you don’t need to change. However how do you know? You are in your own bubble as I just said.

The NFFF Quality Accreditation scheme allows you a fresh pair of eyes to come into your shop and help you improve. You have to have an open mind to change and I think this year has taught us that change isn’t always bad. As a shop we hadn’t even considered ‘click and collect’ before the pandemic but now we couldn’t live without it.

The scheme has also been launched at a new price which is even better value for money and I would encourage you to take a look at becoming a QA holding shop.

How do I join the Scheme?

You can now apply to the Scheme by visiting www.QUALITYFISHANDCHIPS.co.uk.  The assessment now takes place by a virtual ZOOM inspection which will cover everything the previously physical inspections covered.

To discuss further, simply call the NFFF Head Office on 0113 230 7044 or email QA@nfff.co.uk

Start your accreditation journey today, click here

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