Ruddy's Fish & Chip Shop - Old Cheltenham Road

Popular family-run business Ruddy's Fish and Chip Shop in Old Cheltenham Road have just re-opened after a major refurbishment with a contemporary new look.

Over the last 10 years Jim Ruddy had been less active within his shops to concentrate on his other businesses, so when Longlevens was ready to be refitted he felt that he was a little out of touch with what was available on the market.

He contacted Robert Furey, MD of Frying Solutions Limited, who advised him on the type of look that would go down well within the area, together with how the shop would be best portrayed. To Jim's surprise Robert also advised that he only needed 3 round pans to replace the 6 he currently had and, whilst a little uneasy, he took the plunge.

Having had the new range installed with only 3 round pans and 2 square pans he is absolutely overwhelmed and amazed at the volume that is able to be produced within this small footprint. He is extremely impressed with the variable burner and that it will adjust according to the load of chips you put in the pan. This in turn gives him the flexibility of doing small portions or large volumes dependant upon the demand of the queue.

Jim also wanted the shop to look sleek, modern and with an air of openness. And that is exactly what has been achieved. "It looks simple, clean and sharp, which is just what we wanted", said Jim. "It is a mix of oak, marble and mirrors in the customer area and it is quite open-plan because we wanted customers to see the chef working.

The family business was started in 1936 by Jim's grandfather, and was based in High Street, Gloucester. It moved to Old Cheltenham Road around 40 years ago and many members of staff have worked there for more than 20 years.

Jim's father, Maurice, joined the business in the mid 1960's, with Jim following in his father's footsteps shortly afterwards, and seeing the business grow to 8 shops.

"Florigo are still at the cutting edge of technology"

In the late 1980s, and having cooked on numerous ranges during his career, Jim was keen to move on to a different concept of cooking and wanted to separate the fish from the chips whilst frying and to cook in round pans. So he began researching the different range manufacturers and was hearing that Florigo was the way forward.

He visited Florigo in Holland on numerous occasions and there is where he made his decision to buy his first Florigo range (8 pans) for this very same shop in Longlevens. He was so impressed with the construction, display and speed of the fryer that one month later he changed the range in his other fish & chip shop on the Hucclecote Road to a Florigo as well.

"This really made a difference to me in the quality, efficiency and the speed of cooking" Jim said. "And it made more sense for chefs to cook on a flat work surface with chips cooked in round pans rather than the traditional English Victorian range."

Now after 40 years in the trade, Jim has come full circle. He has been so impressed having worked the range for the first couple of months in his newly furbished shop at Longlevens that he has also purchased another Florigo for his Hucclecote shop where refurbishment starts in October 2010.

Interested in reading about other takeaways?  Make sure you read about Sheppards and Sole Bay!