Hanbury’s Fish and Chips has been a fixture in Babbacombe for over 30 years and is now one of the best-known businesses on the English Riviera.  This year however sees a huge refurbishment with the restaurant undergoing a redecoration programme which includes renovating much of the seating and replacing others with light, airy and comfortable Lloyd Loom wicker chairs.

Probably the biggest area of change though is one that most people will never get to see but will definitely get to benefit from.  One of the upstairs rooms in the restaurant is now a kitchen exclusively serving the restaurant. Previously all the food for both the takeaway next door and the restaurant was cooked in the takeaway but all the restaurant food will now be cooked upstairs, much of it on a fantastic new state of the art Dutch Kiremko frying range.  This is a huge investment for the business and David Hanbury says “Hanbury’s of Babbacombe is here to stay and this investment proves that.  The new range will reduce waiting times in the restaurant and with the takeaway kitchen only cooking for takeaway customers, their waiting times will reduce as well.”  He added “Hanbury’s has enjoyed huge success over the past 32 years but, to flourish, any business needs to reinvest.  This new range and our restaurant modernisation is a great way to start the 2014 season with extra efficiency and extra style.  It’s good for the business, it’s good for our customers and it’s good for staff morale too.  Our redecoration in the restaurant has kept a lot of the Hanbury’s classic features that our customers know and love whilst bringing a fresh and modern feel to the surroundings.”

Getting the new range delivered involved taking out an upstairs window and craning the equipment through it.  David said “It was quite a spectacle.  It took 15 minutes to get the range from the road into the room.  It was quite a tricky manoeuvre to say the least but it’s gone in fantastically well and I’m very excited about the difference it will make to our business.”

As well as overseeing the refurbishment project David has also been planning his annual Fish and Chips on the Downs Music Festival which this year takes place on Sunday 22 June in the Festival Marquee on Babbacombe Downs with a fantastic line-up of live entertainment including Land of the Giants and headline act, Mama Stone’s House Band.  For more information visit www.babbacombefestival.com