Mother Hubbard’s to open in High Road, South Woodford

Mother Hubbard’s was established in Bradford in 1972, and the first restaurant was opened by Coronation Street’s Stan and Hilda Ogden.

The brand, which describes itself as “Britain’s largest fish and chips franchise” has sold 152 franchise stores according to its website – the latest of which is in High Road.

Chris Farnell, head chef at Mother Hubbard’s, is tasked with helping to set up new franchises and train staff.

The shop will open tomorrow (June 28) (Image: Mother Hubbard’s) He said: “The South Woodford shop is amazing – it’s one of the nicest shops we’ve had.

“You’ve never seen a fish and chip shop like this.

“It’s not your traditional fish and chip shop – we’ve got computer screens that you can order from like McDonald’s.

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“We’re bringing the old with the new.

“We’ve got pictures on the wall of what the local area used to look like all the way back to 1921 and then we’ve got a modern side with TVs and a shark attack wall, which scares the children!”

The shop is equipped with an interactive shark attack screen designed to frighten people (Image: Mother Hubbard’s) Chris, who has worked at Mother Hubbard’s for 18 years, explained he has been involved with the new store for a week but work has been ongoing for three to four months to get the site ready for customers.

The store will open its doors for the first time tomorrow (June 28).

“I can’t wait to open – we’re doing 50 per cent off our full menu tomorrow and it’s going to be crazy,” he said.

“It gets pretty mad when we open new shops – people get here early and our average wait time is around 45 minutes once a queue starts building.

“Tomorrow we could do over 800 orders.

“My team are coming down from Bradford and I’ll also be doing training in the back at the same time.”

The shop will seat 32 people (Image: Mother Hubbard’s) Chris said that everyone should try the classic fish and chips on their first visit to Mother Hubbard’s, but also recommended the spicy fish and chips and masala fish and chips for a different taste.

“We have a bespoke batter – you cannot buy this batter anywhere – it is our own brand,” said Chris.

“It’s the same with our curry sauce, mushy peas, gravy – everything is our brand and exclusive to us.

“We also serve a salt and pepper range, sandwiches, sausages, jacket potatoes, jalapeno bites – we’ve got a good range.”

The store is also decked out with 32 seats if you want to eat in, as well as a disabled ramp for access.

From tomorrow the new store will be open from 365 days a year, from 11am to 11pm, with last orders being taken at 10.30pm.

Chris claimed that he will be at the South Woodford branch for another two weeks to ensure everything runs smoothly and that he will leave when he feels it’s ready.