​How Rafael Chandler Transformed Hillycroft Fisheries into a Local Favourite

For someone who didn't see fish and chips as a career when he started as a waiter for a local restaurant 22 years ago, it has served Rafael Chandler well.

Today, he owns Hillycroft Fisheries in Morley, Leeds, which he has successfully run for the past six years. Under his leadership, the takeaway has transformed from a "stock it high, sell it cheap" model to a local favourite, known for its commitment to quality and consistency.

"It was an 'offers' shop when I took it on, with big discount stickers in the window and a focus on volume over margins," Rafael explains.

As a result, the shop wasn't generating much profit, and business was unpredictable. "When it had signs up advertising deals, the place would fill up. But without them, there were no customers," he adds.

This feast-or-famine approach made it difficult to plan, especially regarding staffing. "I never knew where we stood — either we had too many staff, which led to boredom and problems, or not enough, which caused customer service issues. Both scenarios were bad for business."

Rafael tackled this by introducing fewer but more targeted offers, however, this lack of consistency extended to other areas of the business such as portion sizes, processes and daily practices. These were addressed when Rafael was introduced to the Ceres portfolio of products.

"I had 10-12 staff, and there was no consistency in portion sizes or how people did things until we started using Ceres products, like the Curry Sauce Mix, the Gravy Mix and the Mushy Peas Seasoning. Ceres helped us standardise everything, from portion control to overall workflow. It made a huge difference and means customers now get as close to the same experience every time they come in."

The consistency offered by Ceres products has also helped drive sales, as Rafael explains further: "As soon as I put a system in for peas and used the Ceres Mushy Peas Seasoning, we noticed a substantial increase in pea sales. The curry sauce is a little bit too early to tell as we have only just switched to it, but we are probably going to be about 10% up there, too."

One item that has developed a loyal, albeit surprising, following is Hillycroft's homemade fishcake, which uses Ceres Fishcake Mix and is coated in Ceres Rustic Breadcrumb. This came about when Rafael was left with trimmings after introducing a smaller 3-5oz lunchtime special to combat rising haddock prices.

"I knew introducing a homemade fishcake would be a challenge here in Leeds, especially in the Bradford area, where customers love their traditional Yorkshire fishcakes, but they have definitely found a market," says Rafael. "We make a batch a week now and we more or less sell out. The profit margin is really good because it's all trimmings, I'm not putting any other fish in there."

Rafael says that with Ceres Fishcake Mix standardising the prep process, there isn't a better way to make fishcakes. "The fishcake mix is so simple to use because I can say to the staff you need 3kg of fish and one bag of fishcake mix - that's it. They do not have to think about boiling potatoes down or adding seasonings. It's all there in that bag."

Rafael has transformed the business by bringing structure and consistency to Hillycroft Fisheries. And while turnover has increased - partly due to price adjustments and an estimated 10% growth in footfall - the real difference is its profitability.

"We've fine-tuned everything, from staffing efficiency to wage percentages relative to turnover," says Rafael. "We've really got it all nailed down now."

Buying other Ceres products including its Deep Fryer Cleaner and Pre-Dust Number Three, Rafael orders through the Ceres online store as well as wholesalers T.Quality and Henry Colbeck, adding: "I've managed to negotiate a good deal with my wholesaler but what I do love about ordering directly from Ceres is I get really fast delivery so I have the best of both worlds. It means I'm never in a situation where I run out of anything."

Rafael is a big fan of the seamless ordering process on the Ceres website too, adding: "The website is brilliant. It's optimised for both mobile and desktop so automatically adjusts to your screen size. And because it remembers your past orders and payment details, I can log in, click reorder and it's done. Plus, delivery is usually next day or the day after - it's so slick. I placed an order this morning, and it took me two minutes."

Regularly tapping into the articles and podcasts Ceres puts out, Rafael is interested in hearing from operators in different areas tohim and with different sets of challenges. "I especially enjoy the episodes that aren't strictly fish and chip related," he says. "You get some interesting people on there, and it's useful to hear other perspectives from across the hospitality industry."