Will well-known North Devon restaurant be named the nation’s top chipper today?

One of North Devon’s most well-known fish and chip restaurants has been shortlisted among the best five in the UK and today (Wednesday, February 25) is bidding to be crowned champion at the National Fish and Chip Awards.

Squires Fish and Chip Restaurant and Takeaway in Braunton has been a popular mainstay of the village for more than 55 years and hopes to celebrate that by winning the Restaurant of the Year category at the awards in London in just a few hours.

The chip shop is also hoping for a double shot of podium glory as dedicated staff member Zak Bishop is also in the top three shortlist for Employee of the Year.

Above: Zak Bishop of Squires in Braunton is bidding to pick up the Employee of the Year award at the National Fish & Chip Awards a little later today. Credit: Squires

The awards ceremony at London’s Plaza Hotel is set to begin in just under two-and-a-half hours.

The National Fish & Chip Awards are organised by the National Federation of Fish Friers (NFFF) and follow a rigorous process to pick the winners, with shortlisted restaurants subjected to unannounced visits from the judges as well as ‘secret shopper’ visits.

For the employee category, a team of leading industry figures have designed a thorough review process, which examines candidates’ knowledge of the trade, approaches to sustainability and cooking top quality chippy food.

Squires is up against two chip shops from Yorkshire, one from Norfolk and one from Bristol, while Zak is shortlisted alongside Donna Whitfield from County Durham and Hollie Hutton from Bradford.

Above: Squires in Braunton. Credit: Squires

Squires was established by June and Gordon Squire in 1969 and today is run by Mike, Cherry, Jane and William Squire. June passed away aged 92 in April last year.

Jane previously told the Gazette it was the first time the chip shop had entered the restaurant category for the awards since the 1980s.

She added: “This year we wanted to showcase that every day in our business needs the whole team working together and what better way to do that than enter the Restaurant of the Year.

“I know that my gran will be looking down upon us and proud that we have made the top five!”

On Zak’s success, she said: “To reach the final three for Employee of the Year at the National Fish and Chip Awards 2026 is a massive achievement.

“This is the third year we've nominated Zak, finishing in the top four last year and we truly believe this is his year, he just goes from strength to strength.”

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Watch this space to find out how the Squires team did at the awards a little later – good luck everyone!