Mother Hubbard's fish and chip shop sets date for Worcester opening

Mother Hubbard’s Famous Fish and Chips is taking over the old Pizza Hut building on Shrub Hill Retail Park and will have a grand opening on Saturday, May 21.

Franchise owner Zahid Lone, from Worcester, said he is excited about the opening.

“It’s very exciting. People have been stopping me in town to ask when we are going to open and people walking past are always stopping and asking questions,” he said.

“There has been a lot of encouragement from local people - it’s very good. And there'll be a special offer on opening day.”

Signage announcing the arrival of Mother Hubbard’s in Worcester first appeared on the building back in February.

Work is progressing on the new fish and chip restaurant

Mr Lone said delays in getting specialist kitchen equipment delivered to the restaurant were the reason it hadn’t opened earlier.

“Even this week there’s been a delay getting fridges and freezers from the manufacturer,” he said. “But these delays aren’t just affecting us - it’s everyone.”

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But he is hopeful that supply issues with fish, oil and other raw ingredients - which we reported last week were affecting chip shops in the city - shouldn’t impact Mother Hubbard’s too much.

This, he said, is because of a national agreement the company has with suppliers and the fact the only fish on the menu is haddock.

Large video screens have been installed underneath the counter

The restaurant will offer on-site dining as well as a takeaway option. The counter and ceiling will feature large video screens showing clips of sharks and fish, while on the walls will be old photographs of Worcester.

These will include some historic Tallow Hill landmarks such as the Beehive pub, which closed in 2002, and Shrub Hill Hospital, previously known as Hillborough, which shut in 1978.

The first Mother Hubbard’s, in Ingleby Road, Bradford, was opened on May 3, 1972 by Coronation Street favourites Stan and Hilda Ogden.

Work is taking place at Mother Hubbard's ahead of the opening later this month

Now the takeaway chain has branches in Batley, Keighley, Oldham, Huddersfield, Leeds, Halifax, Wakefield, Blackburn, Leicester and three in Bradford.

And it is expanding quickly, with plans to open new restaurants in Coventry, Sheffield, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Derby, Middlesbrough, London and Dubai as well as Worcester.