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'Fish and chips is special - but costs are rising'

Jake Wallace
BBC News, Guernsey
BBC Kim Ashplant smiling at looking at the camera. She is wearing a light coloured top and has dark red hair. She is stood in front of the fish and chip shop which is blurred. BBC
Mrs Ashplant estimated millions of pieces of cod have been served in the shop since taking over the business in 2000

The retiring owners of a Guernsey fish and chip shop have shared their sadness at having to close.

Andy and Kim Ashplant on Saturday announced plans to retire and close Beeton's fish and chip shop in St Peter Port after nearly 25 years.

Mrs Ashplant said the rising cost of electricity, gas and cod had made it difficult to keep the fish and chip shop competitive.

"You don't want to outprice yourselves because a fish and chip supper is something special which people have," she said.

The business in its current form will remain open until 28 June, but Mrs Ashplant said she hoped it could be rented or bought and kept as a chippy.

Reflecting on recent years, Mrs Ashplant said rising costs had been tough.

"We've had to put our prices up," she said.

"The gas has gone up, and then you hear the electric has gone up, and then it goes up again, and then there's no cod, so the cod goes up.

"It's a cycle all the time, to be perfectly honest."

Kim Ashplant stood behind the counter of the fish and chip shop. She is next to the friers and some of the hot food areas shoping the prepared food.
Mrs Ashplant said what happens next for the fish and chip shop was the "big question"

Mrs Ashplant said what happens next for Beaton's was the "big question".

"We'd like someone to take it on, obviously it's only just been announced, so we haven't got that far yet," she said.

"We'll see what happens but hopefully somebody will rent it from us, run it as a chip shop but it could also be that somebody may want to buy it as we own the building and everything.

"It's a 'watch this space' for all of us."

Mr and Mrs Ashplant took over the business from Mr Ashplant's father in 2000, after the shop had sat empty for a year.

She estimated millions of pieces of fish and tonnes of potatoes had been cooked at the chippy since they took it on.

'Emotional weekend'

Mrs Ashplant said she had experienced mixed emotions since the couple announced they were moving on.

"I thought that I'd be jubilant and skipping around but actually, I feel quite sad, which I didn't think I would feel," she said.

"I feel really quite bad because some of them [customers] have been coming here for years.

"For some of them it's their routine and they've been doing it for 20 years.

"I don't know what Andy and I will be like, but Andy's cried anyway, it's been an emotional weekend."

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