A MOBILE fish and chip business from the Vale of Evesham is flying high after being named among the top 10 in the country for serving up top quality food at festivals.

StarChip Enterprise, based at the Green Gables Business Centre, Kings Road, Evesham, was shortlisted in the category for stall-holders in the 2016 Festival Awards.

The annual awards judges reward those food outlets using local and responsibly sourced ingredients as well as for the quality of the food served to customers.

Michael Baker, event coordinator for the UK Festival Awards & Conference, said: "Now entering its 13th year, the UK Festival Awards has become the pre-eminent awards ceremony for the nation's live events industry.

“With an unprecedented level of applications this year in terms of both quality and quantity, reaching one of the shortlists was no small feat. StarChip Enterprise's inclusion was owed in part to its use of quality, local ingredients; its strong concept; the clear dedication and passion of the team and its adherence to sustainable practices.”

StarChip Enterprise owner Jeff Warren said: “It's fantastic news that our hard work, consistency, product and service has been nationally recognized again, this time by the UK Festival Awards. This is another first for Worcestershire and we are obviously doing something right, it shows our passion and hard work have paid off once again.”

Tina Clarkson from StarChip Enterprise said the fish and chip van attends quite a number of festivals during the course of the year – it is a growing part of the business – but they still manager to get to their usual locations in the Vale of Evesham villages afterwards to make sure their regular customers are served.

The firm, which was set up in 2011, has six staff working on a rota basis and after a non-stop day of servicing chips shop specials at a festival one team hands over to another one, which makes sure the customers in local communities get their traditional chip shop dishes.

Tina said: “It is non-stop at a festival but we have still been able to get to everyone later in the evening waiting for their supper. We have a good team and they love what they do. Worcester beer festival is a cracker. People love having a cool pint of beer and their fish and chips with it.”

She added that festivals are a growing part of the business and next year they hope to get a place at Glastonbury.

“We have one van at the moment but we are planning to get another one next year which will be dedicated to festivals and events like weddings.

“A huge number of people want fish and chips at their wedding. We have gone to all sorts of venues for weddings from village halls, and barns in fields to country houses. Wedding are our main business out of all the private events.”

For more information visit http://www.starchipenterprise.co.uk/ or call 01386 570470.

• Earlier this year StarChip Enterprise netted the top prize in a national competition. It was crowned the Best Mobile Fish and Chip operator in the 2016 National Fish & Chip Awards organised by Seafish. The business had been shortlisted in the finals in 2015.

• Each finalist was judged on a wide range of criteria including the policies in place regarding the responsible sourcing of raw ingredients, the preparation of products, how levels of customer satisfaction are recorded and responded to and marketing and promotional activity. The businesses also received mystery judging visits from an awards auditor assessing the quality of the food and levels of customer service.

• The business is also a finalist in the 2017 National Fish and Chip Awards but, due to winning last year, is ineligible to take this prize.