An Aberdeenshire businessman has been forced to close his fish and chip shop due to rising energy costs.
David Henderson, 47, closed the Happy Haddock chipper in Macduff last week after his bills recently increased by £600 to £2,000 a month.
With the figure expected to rise even further in the coming months, he made the heartbreaking decision to close the doors of his business.
Mr Henderson told The Press and Journal he was “devastated and upset” by the closure, saying it was no longer feasible to keep open.
To break even he would have to charge £12 for a fish supper – about double what it previously cost.
Although he inquired to see if any grants were available to help his business, he could not find any and said he was not willing to go into thousands of pounds worth of debt to keep the shop open.
‘I managed to get through the pandemic, but this is just too much’
It was two years ago, in August 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, that Mr Henderson took over the business.
A chipper has stood in the spot in Macduff’s Duff Street for the past 60 years, with the previous one being called Salt n’ Batter.
He said: “I’ve been fighting the past two and a half years to build it up and I finally built it up and bang, this crisis hit us.
“I opened up in the middle of the pandemic and I managed to get through that, but this is just too much.”
Mr Henderson grew up in Macduff and before running Happy Haddock was a stonemason for 25 years.
When asked what he is missing most about the chip shop, he said: “It’s the banter I’m missing the most. The old characters, about 70 or 80, coming in for their half fish suppers, there’s a lot of fun with them.
“There was one old lady, we had a good bit of banter with her and there’s one night I chased her down the street for a kiss and a cuddle. That’s the kind of atmosphere that we had.”
Chip shop to continue with new owners
Despite only shutting up shop last week, Mr Henderson said that the landlord has already got someone else lined up to run the premises as a fish and chip shop.
Mr Henderson said he does not understand how they’re going to manage to survive due to the current circumstances and said other businesses in Macduff are also “considering closing down”.
Discussing the feedback he has received from punters, Mr Henderson said: “I was expecting the ‘I knew you wouldn’t manage to do it Davie’ kind of attitude with some people, but I have not had one comment like that. They’ve all been ‘You’ve given it your best shot.’
“It’s mainly the banter I really miss, it’s the fun we had. Meeting new people as well was always nice.
“I’m really sorry I couldn’t carry on, I did try my hardest to keep it going.”
Mr Henderson took to Facebook last week to announce the closure of the shop, which has 4.8 stars on Google from 38 reviews.
Customers expressed their sadness at the announcement, including one person who wrote: “Oh no, so sorry to hear this, we’ll definitely miss you.”
Conversation