Unopposed fish & chip shop, Masham market square

Key features

• £3,000 weekly turnover from only 11 hours frying
• Previously took £8,000 a week on full-time openings
• Unopposed position on Masham market square
• 3-pan Hopkins counter range, high efficiency
• 25–30 cover restaurant alongside the takeaway

About this business

A traditional fish & chip shop in a prime, unopposed position on the market square of Masham, one of the Yorkshire Dales' most popular tourist towns. Currently turning over around £3,000 a week from just 11 hours of frying — two half days and one full day — because health issues have forced the vendor to scale right back. Previously took £8,000 a week on normal openings. For a capable operator willing to reopen properly and add delivery, the route back to that figure is obvious.

Trading figures

Weekly turnover currently sits at around £3,000, achieved from just 11 hours of frying a week — two half days and one full day — on a simple conventional menu. Prior to the reduction in hours, takings were in the region of £8,000 a week. An experienced operator returning the shop to normal openings, broadening the menu and introducing the home delivery service the town currently lacks should be able to re-establish that figure and push beyond it. The scope here is unusually direct: the trade was already there, and the position hasn't changed.

Trading hours

Closed Sunday through to Wednesday. Thursday: 4.30pm – 7.30pm. Friday: 11.45am – 1.30pm and 4.30pm – 7.30pm. Saturday: 4.30pm – 7.30pm. The current pattern reflects the vendor's health rather than any limit on demand — there is unbelievable scope to operate normal hours.

Business premises

A traditional stone-built ground floor premises with a single frontage opening into a well-appointed interior. Tiled flooring runs throughout, lit by strip lighting, with a 3-pan Hopkins counter range as the centrepiece of the frying operation. The restaurant area — currently only open for two hours on a Friday — is genuinely attractive and well laid out, seating 25 to 30 covers around free-standing tables and chairs, anchored by a stone fireplace with a multifuel stove. To the rear, the preparation area has uPVC-clad walls and houses a commercial washing-up station, potato works, stock room and access to external storage sheds.

Trade equipment

The headline item is the 3-pan Hopkins high-efficiency counter range — landlord's ownership, but in place and trading. Included within the asking price: a Bold rumbler and chipper, 4-pot bain-marie, electric till, fish keeper, water boiler, microwave oven, drink chiller, Hobart dishwasher, chest freezer, various fridges, plus the restaurant tables and chairs, crockery and cutlery. (Items have not been formally tested — buyers should commission an independent inspection.)

Accommodation

No accommodation is included in the sale.

Trading position

A prime, unopposed pitch in one of the Dales' most popular market towns, directly opposite the main square where the markets are held and the visitor car park sits — a footfall draw throughout the year. Behind the tourist trade is a solid local population, with a new housing development close by adding to the resident catchment. Visitors and residents in the same spot, with no competing chippy on the square.

Special remarks

A genuinely under-achieving concern, and a rare one — the trade was demonstrably there at £8,000 a week before the vendor's health forced a cutback to two half days and one full day. The pitch is unopposed, the fit-out and equipment are in place, and the restaurant element gives a capable operator a second income channel alongside the counter trade. The asking price has been reduced to encourage a quick sale due to family circumstances. Inspection will make the upside obvious.