Opened in the summer 1964, Wimpy Fraserburgh was one of the first in Scotland and it is still going strong today.
Franchisee Amjad Shahzad took over the helm of the Hanover Street restaurant in 2015, bringing with him a wealth of experience from his time working at Wimpys in the south of England.
He is proud to be in charge of what is now the oldest remaining Wimpy north of the border and says customers sometimes travel from as far as Edinburgh – 173 miles away – just to enjoy the taste of a traditional Wimpy burger.
Customers want the Wimpy taste
“Fraserburgh is a great place to live and work,” Mr Shahzad said, who can be found six days a week at the griddle cooking food fresh to order before it is served to table by his team of seven staff.
He added: “Our core customers tend to be families and teenagers, while some of our older customers in their 60s and 70s remember coming here when they were children, so it’s really interesting to hear their memories.
“We also have people who grew up in the town and then moved away, occasionally they travel from hundreds of miles away to visit us because they remember coming here when they were young and want to enjoy a taste of Wimpy again.”
Wimpy reached its peak in the 1970s with nearly 400 locations across the UK, a total that had declined to 216 – with Fraserburgh among just 67 surviving to today.
One very familiar face behind the counted in the Broch restaurant is waitress Yvonne, who worked at Wimpy for almost 25 years before retiring.
However, she found she missed working there so much that she has recently returned on a part-time basis and sees customers who she remembers as children now bringing the next generation of their families in.
Investment coming to Fraserburgh Wimpy
Mr Shahzad himself had his first job at a Wimpy in Sussex and worked at several other of the firm’s restaurants before jumping ship to work at other fast food chains.
When he decided it was time to invest in his own restaurant, he made the decision to return to the fold and found that the Wimpy Fraserburgh franchise was available.
He said: “I could really see the potential here. We made a few initial improvements, but what is exciting is that in 2023 we hope to be able to invest in a major new refurbishment that we think will really attract lots of new customers.
“We are having discussions with Wimpy about this at the moment and we hope to know more in the new year.”
If the plans go ahead, they will see Wimpy’s latest “shift design” installed at the Fraserburgh restaurant.
The design blends the brand’s strong heritage with bright new colours, bench-style seating and Wimpy artwork on the walls.
As well as this, Mr Shahzad hopes the new seating arrangements will expand capacity to around 66 customers for dine-in meals.
With the Broch’s Wimpy open all week, except Tuesdays, Mr Shahzad says he likes being part of the local community and often supports requests from local charities and groups for help with competitions and raffle prizes by giving out restaurant vouchers.
Unlike some other fast food chains, Wimpy is well-known for its cooked-to-order food, with it being served to the table on plates with knives and forks.
Fraserburgh – a Wimpy stronghold
The Wimpy brand arrived in the UK from the United States in 1954, with the first Wimpy Bar opening in London, which resulted in the hamburger coming to UK shores for the first time.
Its menu has evolved extensively since then and now diners can choose not only from a wide range of beef burgers made with 100% British beef, they can also opt for meat-free and vegan options.
Alongside Fraserburgh, there are Wimpy restaurants in both Dingwall and Kilmarnock, however, at one time there were nearly 60 throughout Scotland, including the chain’s largest in the world being in Glasgow.
In October 2014, Wimpy in Peterhead, which was located in the town’s Marischal Street, closed its door for the last time after being in the Blue Toon for four decades, while there used to also be one at Codona’s Amusement Park in Aberdeen.
A large proportion of Wimpy restaurants closed in the early to mid-1990s when United Biscuits, the owners of the brand sold it to Grand Metropolitan, who converted many of the counter service Wimpys to Burger King.
The remaining table service ones were sold to the Wimpy UK management team and in 2006, South African company Famous Brands took over the business and remains the owner today, with it been headquartered in Johannesburg.
There are currently 67 Wimpys across the UK, 452 in South Africa and one in Lesotho, while there are also restaurants in Egypt, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates respectively.
Despite Wimpy being a shadow of its former self in terms of restaurant numbers, Fraserburgh continues to be a stronghold for this nostalgic brand.
Conversation