Category Archives: Hanbury’s Fish and Chips

Hanbury’s Famous Fish and Chips for TV’s Mark Jenkins

David Hanbury and the staff at Hanbury’s were only too pleased to welcome Mark Jenkins, the star of Channel 4 programme “The Hotel” recently. Mark Jenkins and his mum were visiting the Babbacombe fish and chip restaurant as it is her favourite restaurant.

Mark and his mum enjoyed the usual Hanbury’s award-winning fish and chips and great service before Mark posed with some of the staff for a photo.

David Hanbury said “Mark and his mother have visited us a number of times and we were delighted to see them.” He added “It was lovely to get a photo with Mark after their meal, especially for one of our members of staff, Charlotte Brierly, who is particularly a huge fan.”

Channel 4’s film crew were also in tow, filming the visit, but if you want to know if the trip to Hanbury’s made the final cut you’ll have to make sure you watch the last episode which will be screened on Sunday 15 February. In the meantime, you may see Mark when you’re next in Hanbury’s as he says it’s the only place he’ll eat fish.

Festival Fundraising Total Tops £10,000

The annual Hanbury’s Fish and Chips on the Downs Music Festival event in the Babbacombe Festival Marquee this June raised a staggering £10,480.81. David Hanbury, who organises the event said “I am absolutely delighted with the amount of money that was raised this year. As always, this is a team effort and we’ve had enormous support from sponsors, groups and individuals without whom we couldn’t hope to reach such an amazing total.”

All the money raised has gone to David’s chosen charity, the Torbay Holiday Helpers Network (THHN) which is a Babbacombe based charity. The THHN gives free holidays to families who have seriously ill and bereaved children, recently bereaved families, couples who have lost a child and to families who have a terminally ill parent and it is a charity that David is particularly keen to support. He said “The work that Luke Tillen and his team do is so important and I’m only too pleased to help provide holidays for more wonderful families here in South Devon. The team at THHN are lovely to work with and their Fundraising Manager, Brian Lewis, deserves special mention for his tireless work helping make the day a success co-ordinating all the volunteers, attending planning meetings and generally helping out wherever required.”

Hundreds of people attended this year’s event and were treated to a line-up that included the Stone Angels, Land of the Giants, Shamrock, Ollie Stephens, a special appearance by the Krankies and headline act, Mama Stones House Band, featuring Phoebe Ions.

Sponsors of this year’s event included Boyce Hatton Solicitors, Babbacombe Garage, Riviera Mortgages, The Babbacombe Inn, The Buccaneer Inn, Angels Tea Rooms, The Rotary Club of Babbacombe and St Marychurch and Child Friendly Matters. The event itself consisted of ten hours of fantastic live music. David said “I thought the line-up we had this year was really fantastic and I have to thank Anais Hay who handled all of the bookings and finer details behind the scenes. I’m also incredibly grateful, of course, to all the Hanbury’s staff who worked so hard serving over one thousand portions of fish and chips on the day. I’m very lucky to have such a great team here at Hanbury’s.”

Hanbury’s Fish and Chips on the Downs was the finale of this year’s five days of Babbacombe Festival Marquee activities which, as well as supporting the THHN, also had events which raised money for Rowcroft Hospice, CLIC Sargent, the Poppy Appeal and End Polio Now. David added “Particular thanks must go to Martyn Strange who, for many years now, has provided the spectacular Babbacombe Festival Marquee as well as co-ordinating a selection of events that have been enjoyed by hundreds of people and raised such a lot of money for the various charities supported by the Festival.”

The 2014 Festival was blessed with fantastic summer sun throughout and Babbacombe Downs was full of people enjoying both the weather and the atmosphere at all of the events which also included the Torbay Armed Forces Day which saw crowds lining the street to celebrate with Armed Forces past and present.

David said “Overall this year was definitely the best year we’ve ever had. There was a lovely atmosphere throughout and it was really wonderful to see so many people enjoying what was on offer. Babbacombe Downs is a superb location and what happens up there during Festival week introduces lots of new people to this spectacular location.”

The Festival website www.babbacombefestival.com now has a gallery of pictures so you can re-live all the goings-on from June 2014.

Major Refurbishment for Hanbury’s Fish and Chips

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

Fish and Chip Lunch for Torbay Dementia Action Alliance

A group of Friends of the Torbay Dementia Action Alliance (TDAA) enjoyed a delicious fish and chip lunch courtesy of Hanbury’s of Babbacombe recently.  The group of 20 consisted of carers and people who have a diagnosis of Dementia. Chairman of the TDAA, Norman McNamara, said “We had a lovely lunch and are very grateful to David Hanbury for inviting us.  Not only were the fish and chips delicious but the atmosphere was inviting, understanding and relaxing and that makes all the difference.”

David Hanbury said “It was lovely to see Norrms and the group and give them some fish and chips.  They really are a great bunch and to be able to sit down and enjoy a meal and have a chat and catch up with them all was an absolute pleasure.”

Hanbury’s is one of many local businesses that is Dementia Aware which means that its staff have undergone training from Norman to raise awareness of dementia, its symptoms and how staff can be sensitive to those affected by it. Norman said “David has always been a supporter of the TDAA, right from day one, for which we are extremely grateful.” Norman offers this simple training to any business interested in ensuring that its staff are aware of the issues that people diagnosed with Dementia have to deal with.  It’s completely free and Norman would be delighted to hear from any businesses interested in talking more about it.

In good news for those dealing with Dementia there is now a free GPS system that will be delivered to hundreds of people shortly, thanks to Ostrich Care, which will keep people safe and well.  In fact, the national call centre for this service will be housed in Torquay which Norman is particularly pleased about.  Norman is sure that this will make a huge difference to families everywhere and urges anyone with Dementia to talk to their local care trust about the system.

For more information on the work of the TDAA visit their website at www.tdaa.co.uk

Fan-Dabi-Dozi Fish and Chips

David Hanbury has teamed up with local celebrities, the Krankies, to produce a series of new ads for Hanbury’s Famous Fish and Chips of Babbacombe.

When David was planning some new radio ads he suddenly thought of his very good friends, Ian and Janette, asked them if they’d like to take part and they were delighted to. The Krankies have been in show business for over 40 years, starring in many TV and stage shows, travelling the world and winning all sorts of awards.  They still travel extensively and regularly appear in panto but their home is in Torquay.

Janette says “We’ve known David for years and were only too happy to feature in his new series of ads. We had a great time recording the ads at Heart and Tim Fortune, their Senior Creative Manager, did a wonderful job of writing some ads that really captured what David was trying to achieve but in a very Krankies style.”

David said “I’m delighted with the ads.  They’re wonderful fun and I think will go down well with our customers.  In fact, I’d go as far as to say that they’re fan-dabi-dozi.”  He added “Ian and Janette have been very supportive of me and always come along to our June Music Festival on Babbacombe Downs and help entertain the crowds.  It’s brilliant to hear a marquee full of 500 people laughing and having a good time and that’s what the Krankies bring to any event.”

The ads will appear throughout the year on Heart Radio and Palm FM and there’s a special extra one to promote the Music Festival which this year will be on Sunday 22 June and will again be raising money for local charity, the Torbay Holiday Helpers Network.

The Krankies themselves remain a very busy couple and have recently appeared on television in the final episode of this series of Benidorm which was shown on ITV on Thursday 13 February.