Why Dan's feeling TS chipper about the future

It's been a struggle - but now fish & chip shop is going from strength to strength

- JENNA CAMPBELL

WHEN Dan Edwards decided to open a fish and chip shop in Prestwich back in 2018, he wasn't particularly bothered by a chippy tea. Or at least, he didn't think he'd ever had a good one.

Having worked in some of Manchester's best hotels and the acclaimed Hawksmoor, he came into it with a good understanding of what's needed to make a restaurant thrive, though. He knew from the start that the best possible ingredients were a given - but a USP was also just as crucial.

"Within 24 hours of seeing the to-let sign going up in the window I'd put a deposit down, and was touring Yorkshire's best chippies - I was having fish and chips for breakfast, lunch and dinner," says Dan as he fires up the fat fryer.

"I actually hated fish and chips at that point as I'd never had good ones, but as I went around Yorkshire I saw they were frying everything in beef dripping, and while I knew that was quite different to back home I thought that was what would set us apart."

And he was right. Chips @ No. 8 on Clifton Road has become a go-to for hungry, chippy tea-loving Mancunians. Known for its two-storey mural of Mark E. Smith of The Fall, and long queues stretching down the street, it's one of the area's most beloved fish and chip shops.

But despite being named amongst the UK's best in the 'chippy world cup, it's not been plain sailing. "For two years I didn't pay myself, I couldn't afford to," Dan says, reflecting on the start of the chippy's journey in 2018.