Harry Ramsden's is a

fast food restaurant A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typically ...

chain based in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

which offers

fish and chips Fish and chips is a popular hot dish consisting of fried fish in crispy batter, served with chips. The dish originated in England, where these two components had been introduced from separate immigrant cultures; it is not known who created t ...

and assorted themed dishes. The business has 35 owned and franchised outlets throughout the UK and Ireland. Harry Ramsden's website claims the business to be "Britain's longest established restaurant chain".

Early history

The business was started by Harry Ramsden (10 February 1888–1963) in 1928 in a wooden hut in White Cross,

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is a town in metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-western suburb of Leeds. It sits in th ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, northern England. Three years later he moved into a new premises, complete with fitted carpets,

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

panelled walls, and

chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...

s. The original hut still stands on the same site adjacent to the main restaurant, which once held the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for the largest fish and chip shop in the world, seating 250 people, serving nearly a million customers a year.

Harry Corbett Harry Corbett OBE (28 January 1918 – 17 August 1989) was an English magician, puppeteer and television presenter. He was best known as the creator of the glove puppet character Sooty in 1952. Biography Corbett was born in Bradford, W ...

Sooty Sooty is a British children's television media franchise created by Harry Corbett incorporating primarily television and stage shows. The franchise originated with his fictional glove puppet character introduced to television in 1955, with the ...

fame was a nephew of Harry Ramsden and played the piano in his uncle's original restaurant. In 1954, the business was sold to Harry Ramsden's long term business partner Eddie Stokes for the (then) large sum of £37,500, and subsequently in 1965 to Essex-based Associated Fisheries.

Expansion

In 1988, the company, which still comprised the original Guiseley fish and chips premises, was bought by Merryweathers, led by Chairmen John Barnes and Richard Richardson. Barnes and Richardson led the transition of the business from a single restaurant in Yorkshire to an international chain. In 1989, following a decision by their bank to withdraw funding, the management floated the company on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

. The public offer was over-subscribed by two and a half times. The next ten years saw rapid expansion throughout the UK and worldwide through company-owned and franchised restaurants. Locations outside the UK included Hong Kong, Australia,

Epcot Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...

and Saudi Arabia. A franchise deal with Granada motorway services to develop

kiosk Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Iran, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist ...

-style units ultimately led to Granada Ltd buying Harry Ramsden's for £20 million in October 1999. When acquired by Granada Harry Ramsden's comprised four company-owned restaurants, twenty-five franchises and sixteen Henry Higgins units. Granada expanded Harry Ramsden's into motorway locations. Some franchise territories infringed onto motorways so Granada bought the franchises back. In 2000, Compass merged with Granada. Under Compass, the business was expanded into

motorway service station Motorway service areas in the United Kingdom and Ireland, also known as services or service stations, are rest areas where drivers can leave a motorway to refuel/recharge, rest, eat and drink, shop or stay in an on-site overnight hotel. The vas ...

kiosks, contract catering locations such as schools, Post Office canteens,

Little Chef Little Chef was a chain of restaurants in the United Kingdom, founded in 1958 by entrepreneur Sam Alper, who was inspired by American diners. The chain was famous for the "Olympic Breakfast" – its version of a full English – as well as it ...

Butlins Butlin's is a chain of large seaside resorts in the United Kingdom. Butlin's was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families. Between 1936 and 1966, ten camps were built, including one in Ireland and o ...

, and

Haven Holidays Haven Holidays is a chain of holiday parks in the United Kingdom. It operates self catering static caravan holiday parks with many also including touring and camping facilities. The company operates 41 sites in the UK in predominantly coastal ...

. Also in 1999, the company began operating a quick-service kiosk in Walt Disney World's

in the United Kingdom pavilion. Branded and operated by Harry Ramsden's the restaurant was added to provide a traditional fish and chips in time for the park's Millennium celebration. The branding remained until a renovation in 2006 when its name became Yorkshire County Fish Shop, a nod to the original UK restaurant. Despite the name change the location was still sponsored and operated by Harry Ramsden's until 2010.

SSP ownership and future

By April 2006, Compass had spun off its motorway service stations to Moto bought by

Macquarie Bank Macquarie Group Limited () is an Australian global financial services group. Headquartered and listed in Australia (), Macquarie employs more than 17,000 staff in 33 markets, is the world's largest infrastructure asset manager and Australia's t ...

of Sydney, Australia. Its specialist airports and railways division SSP was sold for to

EQT Partners EQT AB Group is a global investment organization founded in 1994. Its funds invest in private equity, infrastructure, real estate, growth equity, and venture capital in Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific. , EQT's assets under management ...

of Sweden (who also own

Findus Findus () is a frozen food brand which was first sold in Sweden in 1945. Findus products include ready meals, peas and Crispy Pancakes, the latter of which were invented in the early 1970s. The Swiss food company Nestlé owned the Findus brand ...

). Harry Ramsden's was sold with the SSP business. Under the early years of SSP ownership, the business had to compete with other SSP brands for investment. In 2008, SSP recruited industry turnaround specialist Chris Sullivan as Managing Director. During 2009, Sullivan led a radical revision of the food on offer improving quality, reducing wait times and removing menu items which were more pub-restaurant than chip shop. The strategy delivered a marked improvement in sales in the food court and seaside restaurant business of Harry Ramsden's, prompting parent company SSP to market the business for sale. On 19 January 2010, SSP sold Harry Ramsden's to Boparan Ventures Limited. BVL is the private investment vehicle of Ranjit Boparan. BVL planned to open another 100 units in the next five years and create 600 new jobs. On 29 November 2011, it was announced that the original Harry Ramsden's restaurant in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, would close amid statements from the owners that it was losing money and that any refurbishment to make it profitable would not be viable. The restaurant closed on Monday 19 December 2011. In February 2012, it was announced that the Guiseley restaurant had been sold to the Wetherby Whaler group. It reopened on 22 May 2012 under the Wetherby Whaler name. BVL are continuing to invest in the Harry Ramsden's brand, with their Bournemouth branch briefly holding the title for World's Largest Fish and Chip Restaurant, seating 417 across its restaurant, cafe and terrace before being surpassed in 2017. During August 2019, Boparan Ventures Limited sold Harry Ramsden's to rival Deep Blue Restaurants, for an undisclosed sum. The move saw Reigate-based Deep Blue acquire the Harry Ramsden’s 34-strong estate – including 15 standalone restaurants, plus a combination of franchises in the UK and in Malaysia.

''Undercover Boss''

In 2010, the chain was the focus of an episode of the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

television series ''

Undercover Boss ''Undercover Boss'' is a reality television series franchise created by Stephen Lambert and produced in many countries. It originated in 2009 on the British Channel 4. The show’s format features the experiences of senior executives working u ...

''. The then-CEO of the company, Marija Simovic, posed as a new starter in a variety of locations –

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

Merry Hill Shopping Centre Merry Hill (formerly Westfield Merry Hill and The Merry Hill Shopping Centre) is a large shopping complex in Brierley Hill near Dudley, England. It was developed between 1985 and 1990, with several subsequent expansion and renovation project ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

– to try to understand why the company was struggling. At the end of the programme, Simovic promised big changes in a bid to turn around the company's fortunes, along with promoting a number of employees who had impressed her. Simovic left the company in 2011.

Licensing

The Harry Ramsden's brand is licensed to

Princes Group Princes Group is an international food and drink group involved in the manufacture, import and distribution of branded and customer own-brand products. Customers include major supermarkets, convenience stores, foodservice operators, wholesale su ...

for tinned

mushy peas Mushy peas are dried marrowfat peas which are first soaked overnight in water with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), and then rinsed in fresh water, after which the peas are gathered in a saucepan, covered with water, and brought to a boil, and ...

and to

Birds Eye Birds Eye is an American international brand of frozen foods owned by Conagra Brands in the United States, by Nomad Foods in Europe, and Simplot in Australia. The former Birds Eye Company Ltd., originally named "Birdseye Seafood, Inc." had be ...

for frozen fish.

References

External links

* * {{Restaurant chains in Ireland Fast-food seafood restaurants English brands Catering and food service companies of the United Kingdom Restaurants established in 1928 Restaurant chains in the United Kingdom Tourist attractions in Leeds 1928 establishments in England Fish and chip restaurants Guiseley