Fish and chip shop owners have revealed they are no longer turning a profit from selling cod, amid rising costs and tightening fishing quotas – as some say they fear going out of business altogether.
Concerned chippy owners spoke out as one apologised to customers this week after charging £15 for fish and chips as a result of widespread price rises.
Labour’s increase in National Insurance contributions for employers will also increase wage bills, with one estimating the costs with one estimating saying she needed to find another £700 per employee per year.
Brad-Lee Navruz, who runs The Nippy Chippy in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, said he ‘feels bad’ for customers who’ve been left shocked by the new prices, but explained that the rising cost of ingredients has left him with little alternative.
He is now charging £15 for a large cod and chips, and £12.50 for a regular portion – a significant jump from the previous price of £10.30.
Nearby shop owner Josefina Fernandes, who runs The Big Fish in Stroud, offers a large cod and chips for £12 and said she has no plans to increase prices despite the soaring food costs challenging her business.
Mrs Fernandes, who still works five long days in her shop at the age of 76, said as she poured vinegar over a bag of chips at her counter: ‘It’s hurting. The prices we have to pay our suppliers now for fish, potatoes and all the other ingredients – in addition to ever-increasing energy costs and everything else – leaves us with very little profit.
‘We were forced to put our prices up slightly in February this year. We put the price of large cod and small chips up from £11 to £12, but that gets nowhere near to covering the extra we are having to pay now.
‘We’re absorbing most of the increases ourselves and that hits our profits hard.
Brad-Lee Navruz, who runs The Nippy Chippy in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, apologised to customers this week after charging £15 for fish and chips as a result of widespread price rises
The Nippy Chippy in Stonehouse is now charging £15 for a large cod and chips, and £12.50 for a regular portion – a significant jump from the previous price of £10.30
Josefina Fernandes, who runs The Big Fish in Stroud, said she has no plans to increase prices despite the soaring food costs challenging her business
‘But if we passed on the the whole of the increases to our customers, we’d be out of business.
‘They have choice so we have to try and be as competitive as we can.’
Mrs Fernandes, who has run the shop for almost 20 years, added: ‘It is tough in this business now. I’m grateful to our customers for being loyal and still coming in and spending their money here.’
MailOnline visited other chippies in Stroud and discovered they too had put their prices up in the last few months – or are planning to – in response to the rising cost of ingredients – but none has passed all of the increases on to their customers.
Simpsons, described by its head frier, Miranda Haley, 53, as an ‘above mid-range’ fish and chip shop features a menu board offering £8.50 plaice and eight king prawns for £10, alongside the more traditional offerings of large cod and chips for £13 and haddock and chips for £13.30.
But prices are due to increase by around 10 per cent in a few days, she warned, due to ‘massively rising costs of the food we sell’.
The hike will not come close to rise in those ingredients the business is being forced to pay, though, she adds.
‘Our costs are going up and up all the time but we simply cannot pass them onto our customers in full because if we did, they might stop coming in. The small rise that’s coming is not exorbitant.
The owner of The Big Fish revealed they were ‘absorbing most of the increases ourselves and that hits our profits hard’
Miranda Hayley, 53, head fryer at Simpsons fish and chip shop, Stroud, said they do not pass costs onto their customers in full ‘because if we did, they might stop coming in’
Simpsons is an ‘above mid-range’ fish and chip shop offering £8.50 plaice and eight king prawns for £10, alongside the more traditional offerings of large cod and chips for £13 and haddock and chips for £13.30
James Geidt, a customer at Simpsons, said the fish is ‘outstanding and always superbly cooked so I’m happy to spend a little extra for what they offer’
‘We should have done it a few weeks ago, but we held off. Now we have no choice.
‘The last time we put our prices up was October last year, by around 10 per cent also.
‘Prices have risen steadily over the past couple of years, but I’m glad to say we haven’t lost any customers because we keep our prices as low as we dare.
‘It hits our profit margins hard, but we value the customers we have and we want to keep them.’
Astonishingly, she said the shop makes no money on its sales of cod, despite selling around 300 pieces of the fish a week.
‘We’ve had to accept that with cod costing what it does now, we can’t make any money from it.
‘Instead we hope to make a bit of profit from the chips and selling a drink with it. It’s crazy economics but what else can we do?
‘If we sell the cod at the price we should, no one will be willing to pay that price.
At Jolly Fish Bar, also in Stroud, manager Holly Neate, 19, revealed her fish and chip shop knocks out more than 500 meals on Friday nights alone
The shop has managed to keep its food at the same prices for 12 months, largely due to the volume of fish and chips flying out of the door
Nathan, a customer at The Jolly Fryer, said he hoped the shop was able to make a profit
‘It’s all because the UK fishing industry can’t catch the numbers it needs to, in order to help them and us make a decent living from it.’
Outside, beneath a ‘Long live fish and chips’ sign, customer James Geidt, 35, is sitting in the evening sun and tucking in to exactly that with his young son.
Mr Geidt, a freelance classical singer, said: ‘Prices have gone up of late but it’s still a fantastic meal and frankly, where else can you spend less than £20 and feel like you’ve had value for money?
‘The fish here is outstanding and always superbly cooked so I’m happy to spend a little extra for what they offer.
‘It’s costing more and more to eat in any kind of restaurant and we just have to accept it, but for me this remains the best value for money.’
At the nearby Jolly Fish Bar, also in Stroud, manager Holly Neate, 19, revealed her fish and chip shop knocks out more than 500 meals on Friday nights alone.
The evening before, when we visited, a queue snaked out of the door at the bustling chippy as her team of four tried to keep up with demand.
The shop has managed to keep its food at the same prices for 12 months, largely due to the volume of fish and chips flying out of the door.
Regular customers Anne, a NHS nurse in her late 30s, and her 15-year-old daughter Millie, said they like the prices at the Trafalgar, but have sympathy with rival outlet The Nippy Chippy because ‘prices are going up for every business and it’s tough’.
A portion of large cod and regular chips costs £11. Haddock is a pound more.
Ms Neate said: ‘We have a fantastic group of loyal customers and we don’t want to have to charge them more.
‘Obviously our costs have been going up all the time, so that has meant less profit for the business, but it keeps the customers happy and they keep coming back.
‘It’s pretty clear that our fishing crews should be allowed to catch more fish, as long as it remains sustainable. It seems very unfair that they are so restricted now.’
One of the customers waiting for cod and chips, Nathan, a 43-year-old courier, said: ‘This fish and chip shop is simply the best. I’ve been coming here regularly for the past six years and the quality and service have always been above excellent.
‘I appreciate the fact they don’t put their prices up every couple of months like some do. It’s really good value for money, but I hope they can make a bit of profit too.’
In Stonehouse, the Nippy Chippy’s nearest rival is The Trafalgar Takeaway, where prices have stayed the same for a long time, according to the shop’s founder, Suanhang Foo, 66.
A portion of large cod and small chips at the shop he established almost 30 years ago in the busy town, at £10, are cheaper than many. Haddock and chips retails at £10.90.
At Trafalgar Takeaway prices have stayed the same for a long time, according to the shop’s founder, Suanhang Foo, 66
Mr Foo said: ‘We like to keep our prices as low as we are able to. Sure, that means our profit is reducing all the time but we simply cannot hand these rises in ingredients, energy and everything else, on to out loyal customers. We have to absorb as much of the increases as we can ourselves.
‘Somehow, we’ve managed to hold prices the same for two years without going out of business. We’re surviving, but these increases in our costs make it more and more difficult.
‘Everything is going up and up. It’s crazy the way our costs keep on increasing.
‘At some point, they have to allow our fishermen to take a bigger catch from the sea. That’s the only way prices are going to start coming down, or at least stabilise.’
Regular customers Anne, a NHS nurse in her late 30s, and her 15-year-old daughter Millie, said they like the prices at the Trafalgar, but have sympathy with rival outlet The Nippy Chippy because ‘prices are going up for every business and it’s tough’.
She added: ‘We often use the Nippy Chippy because it’s closer to our house. My husband got a takeaway there the other night, but to be fair to him, he didn’t moan about the increase in price. In fact, he didn’t even mention it.’
Another Trafalgar customer, Nick, 65, sitting beneath the shop’s old-school price board, said: ‘I’ve always bought my fish and chips from here and I always will. I love it here.’
Nick, a semi-retired engineer, added: ‘This is the only place in town that hasn’t put its prices up and I take my hat off to them for that.’
The owner of Trafalgar Takeaway said: ‘We’re surviving, but these increases in our costs make it more and more difficult’
Labour’s increase in National Insurance contributions for employers will also increase wage bills, with workers facing a hit of up to £11,000 over the next five years due to Labour’s ‘jobs tax’, an analysis has found.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ hike to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs), which she announced in October, has been in effect since the beginning of April and is set to keep down wages.
The rate of employer NICs rose from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent as the Treasury attempts to raise around £25billion a year.
The Chancellor has also cut the threshold at which firms become liable to pay NICs on an employees’ earnings.
Business chiefs have warned of a devastating impact from the tax rise, which they say is putting many firms at risk of closure due to hiked costs.
New research has also set out the ‘grim reality’ of the NICs rise on workers’ pay packets. It is estimated most of the tax hike will be passed on to employees through lower real wages.
A Liberal Democrat analysis found, on average, an employee would be worse off by roughly £2,900 by 2030. It also showed how workers are set to experience a hit of nearly £470 in the next year on average.
The analysis revealed that of the £25.7billion hit to firms from Ms Reeves’ ‘jobs tax’ in 2029/30, around £19.5billion would get passed on to workers.
Mother-of-one Vicky 49, forgoes the fish and just buys a £4.50 large bag of chips from The Big Fish to eat with £5-for-two supermarket-bought, battered cod cooked in her own oven
MailOnline also spoke to one savvy fish and chips fan who has found a way to buck the inflation-busting prices.
Mother-of-one Vicky 49, who works as a benefice administrator for a cluster of five churches, has been applying the skills she uses in her job to help with her everyday family budgeting.
Instead of forking out £36 for three portions of large cod and small chips for her family at her local chippy, The Big Fish in Stroud, she now forgoes the fish and just buys a £4.50 large bag of chips, then returns home and eats them with £5-for-two supermarket-bought, battered cod cooked in her own oven.
If she splits the two pieces of cod between herself, her husband and daughter, she makes a total saving of £26.50p.
‘Prices are going up in every area of our lives now so I am really having to watch the pennies.
‘Me and my family love fish and chips so this way we can still enjoy them but manage it much more cheaply.
‘The amount of chips in a large portion is so generous here that they’re easily enough for the three of us and the battered cod I’m buying at the supermarket is almost as good.
‘It’s a shame we have to resort to this but despite the fact that both me and my husband have good jobs, we’re having to make economies. Everything is just so expensive now.’
Fish prices are understood to have increased dramatically because of new fishing quotas agreed between the UK, EU and Norway, which have reduced the amount of cod and haddock that can be caught in 2025.
This year’s quota for cod has been cut by 20 per cent to 25,028 tonnes, while haddock is capped at 112,400 tonnes — down 5 per cent from 2024. Officials say the reductions are vital to ensure the long-term sustainability of fish stocks.
