Deep Blue Restaurants

About Deep Blue Restaurants 

The founders of Deep Blue set out with one simple objective; to provide local communities with consistently high quality Fish & Chips. Three years later, we are now the fastest growing chain of Fish & Chips restaurants in the UK.

Our core principles are very simple; we aim to provide a UK wide chain of fish and chips restaurants that consistently offer our customers better quality, better service and real value for money. 

Why Fish and Chips?

• Highly fragmented market -10,000 Fish & Chip shops in UK
• Annual revenues in excess of £750 million
• Down market image BUT continues to thrive
• Still the most popular takeaway meal in the UK?
• An inherent part of British culture that is here to stay
• Only ‘fast food' sector where there is no readily identifiable leader

Our Goals...

• To be the largest operator & the leading brand within 3 years
• Acquisition strategy (in the short term) based on acquisition of single shops and chains
• Serving ‘local' communities
• Serving ‘destination shoppers' and holiday makers

Our Food

All of our raw ingredients come from known suppliers and we can trace, through the supply chain, the origin of every sack of potatoes and every piece of fish that we buy.

We only buy the best possible quality fish from specific vessels renowned for the quality of their catches and the professionalism of their captains and crews. You can also rest assured that we only buy fish caught from well managed stocks!

Our potatoes are the best Maris Pipers sourced from selected farmers in the Fens in Cambridgeshire and freshly peeled and chipped at our shops every day. 

We remain true to the principle upon which the business was originally founded; fresh, simple, sustainable food prepared daily and fairly priced. 

Health and Wellbeing

Fish & Chips is not only a delicious meal, it is also an important part of a healthy balanced diet. Fish & Chips is Good Real Food! 

Not many people know that Fish & Chips is actually lower in calories than the majority of its fast food rivals. In fact, it is one of the healthiest forms of takeaway food with, on average, a third fewer calories and over forty per cent less fat than dishes such as burgers, donner kebabs, chicken korma or cheese and tomato pizza. (Source: Seafish).

Seafood is an important part of our diet and should, according to medical opinion, take the place of other less healthy every-day meal items, as it provides a unique contribution to the supply of essential nutrients needed to ensure that the human body can maintain itself in a state of good physical and mental health. 

Seafood is unique nutritionally in several respects (Source:http://www.seafood.org/):

Seafood is a rich source of vitamins and minerals. It is unique in that it provides the only nutritionally significant source of certain polyunsaturates, known as 'omega-3', which have important health implications. Research demonstrates the value of these omega-3 polyunsaturates, in fighting heart disease, arthritis, cancer, and in promoting good brain function.

The Environment

We are very conscious about environmental issues and want to play our part in conservation and protecting the environment. This is why we only buy fish caught from well managed fishing grounds. 

In addition, it is a key challenge to minimise the amount consumer packaging we use while continuing to preserve the quality of our Fish & Chips.  So we aim, wherever possible, to use recyclable materials in our own-brand packaging.

We even know the vessels that catch our fish! ..Enniberg and The Arctic Warrior shown below.

Did you know?...

• There are over 10,000 shops across the UK selling more than 250 million meals every year
• The sector employs some 61,000 people and generates around £900 million of revenue a year
• Fish & Chips is one of the healthiest forms of takeaway food with a third fewer calories and over forty per cent less fat than dishes such as donner kebab, chicken korma or cheese and tomato pizza
   The first Fish & Chip shop in the North of England is thought to have opened in Moseley near Oldham, Lancashire, around 1863.  Mr Lees sold Fish & Chips from a wooden hut in the market and he later transferred the business to a permanent shop which had an inscription in the window 'This is the first Fish & Chip shop in the world'.  But, in London, Joseph Malin is said to have opened a Fish & Chip shop in Cleveland Street, within the sound of the Bow Bells, in 1860!
• Fish & Chips have never been more fashionable.  London restuarants such as Sir Terrance Conran's Le Pont de la Tour and Elizabeth Taylor's favourite, The Dorchester, feature this great British dish on their menus.  Our celebrities love Fish & Chips; Nicholas Parsons says "The British have turned a simple, nourishing dish into a national institution.  Good Fish & Chips from a well run establishment takes a lot of beating."

Branding and Packaging

Sales and Marketing

Management Team

James Low
Managing Director

Deep Blue was founded by James in 2003.  With a proven track record of building successful businesses, he has brought these skills into the food retail sector.

A large part of his career was spent in the Information Technology market where he held many senior positions.  Most notably he was a main board director of the Resolution Group plc (which was part owned by 3i), and was Managing Director of the UK division of The Innovation Group plc, which has a full listing on the London Stock Exchange.

James is the driving force behind Deep Blue and has assembled an impressive management team that is proving to work cohesively as can be seen from the company's increasingly successful growth.

Richard King
Non-Executive Director

Richard was a founding member of Deep Blue, and has remained actively involved in the company in a non-executive capacity.

He brings to the organisation a very impressive track record and a wealth of contacts.  In the early part of his career Richard trained as a computer systems engineer before moving into sales.  He established his first business in the late 90's as co-founder of The Innovation Group plc which enjoyed phenomenal growth. In the summer of 2000 the company floated with a market capitalisation of £220m.

In addition to holding other non-executive positions in both retail and non-retail, he has a number of positions in sport and charity. In 2002 he was made Vice President of Chelsea Football Club and Chairman of Chelsea Pitch Owners plc. His charity positions include the NSPCC Sports Steering Committee and the Chelsea FC Past Players Trust.

Maurice Gammell
Non-Executive Director

Maurice is indisputably the most successful operator the fish and chip market has known.  In the 1970's he founded and developed his first chain of shops which became the largest in the UK of its kind at that time with 26 shops. In 1983 it was acquired by Rank Hovis McDougal.

In 1994 he initiated a joint venture deal with a major company and founded a new chain of fish and chip outlets.  The business expanded and merged with Harry Ramsden's plc where Maurice was appointed Chief Executive Officer. Here he successfully led the integration and harmonisation of the two entities making the combined business the brand leader in the sector.

Harry Ramsden's was subsequently acquired by Granada which was later acquired by Compass Group plc. Maurice left Compass in 2003 to pursue other interests and joined Deep Blue's management team in March 2004.

Dave King
Finance Director

Dave (no relation to Richard King) qualified with PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1998 specialising in audit in the retail sector.  In 2000 he moved to McDonald's and became the Financial Controller for the southern region, where he was responsible for the financial aspects of over 400 units, including the sale and purchase of many restaurants. He brings his financial experience in the restaurant sector with him to help drive the profitability of the business and the diligent acquisition of other shops and chains.

Graham Hollinshead
Operations Director

Graham Hollinshead has over 17 years experience in the food retail sector with leading industry brands. He gained his early experience at TGI Fridays and Pret A Manger.  He joined Deep Blue from Starbucks where during a seven year period as Operations Manager he was responsible for opening and re-branding over 70 stores.  The experience gained during this time will be invaluable as Deep Blue continues with its expansion and managed roll out plan of new shops.

McCarthy Recruitment is actively seeking to fill positions for this client.

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