New chippie owner is growing his own
Tuesday 1st September 2009, 2:29PM BST.
A LOCAL potato grower is taking over at North Side fish and chip shop.
Roy Lesbirel, who grows 50 vergees of potatoes every year, once supplied the Bridge outlet, but now feels that the time is right to take over the lease himself.
‘It has always been my dream to run a fish and chip shop,’ he said.
‘When this one closed, it was an ideal opportunity for me.’
When the former leaseholder gave up in January, Mr Lesbirel and his wife, Kerry (pictured), expressed an interest in taking over. He said they were not particularly worried about starting up during a recession.
‘Sometimes it can be better,’ he said.
The couple, who have two sons and one daughter, have invested in new fryers, a new potato peeler and a new chipper. Other refurbishments are also currently being undertaken.
‘We hope to be open within the next month,’ said Mr Lesbirel, who has grown potatoes for 35 years.
‘The last week has been a bit stressful getting everything sorted, but it’s all now falling into place.’
Mr Lesbirel hopes to use his own produce all year round.
- To read Guernsey Press stories in full click here for subscription details. Individual editions are now available online.
Campaigns
Voice For Victims
Voice for Victims is a campaign aimed at promoting the rights of those affected by child sexual abuse.
This is Guernsey
Guernsey Press
Good on ya guys, Best of luck
Report abuse
Better be careful. Mary Lowe and the Chamber of Commerce will want to stop this new enterprise going ahead because it might take business away from the Fountain Street chippie and leave Town looking like a wasteland.
Perhaps the Environment and Commerce and Employment departments should get together and spend £50,000 of taxpayers’ money on a chip shop survey before one at North Side is allowed to reopen?
Report abuse
It will be interesting to see what language the staff here will speak, will the wish to use local produce stretch to the use of local staff, or will they rather import staff than potatoes?
With the hundreds out of work at the moment, there should be no need whatsoever to use foreign labour, and lets hope that if non locals are used, then the authorities look at how and why these can be employed,given the high rate of unemployment in the island.
Report abuse
Hi Flyer,
Nice bit of Xenophobia there, is this a further example of UKIP’s gradual takeover of thisisguernsey?
What’s the problem with being served by a pleasant, smart, polite, quick, efficient and blonde Latvian lady?
Talk to the people that need this kind of staff, there just aren’t enough of them out there, local or otherwise. But what they really don’t want serving is someone with a face full of metal, that doesn’t like hard work, has gang tattoos on their face, spends most of the time ‘sick’ and is surly or worse outright rude to the customers.
Anyway mmmmmmmmmm chips!
Reminds me of a song………
Chippy tea, chippy tea
I want’s a chippy tea
But you keep givin posh nosh
it don’t agree with me
I don’t want lobster thermadore
Or your rasberry coulie
I’m a working man from Lancashire
and I wants a chippy tea
Report abuse
I agree Mrs P – if non-locals are living here legally, why shouldn’t they work? Many locals wouldn’t even apply to do the jobs these guys do.
Alternatively think of it this way – if all the foreign workers wew kicked off the island, there wouldn’t be enough people to do the jobs! Guernsey does not suffer from high unemployment – there may be more unemployed than a few years ago but it’s still comparitively very low.
Report abuse