What countries have you most enjoyed travelling to, for business or leisure, and why?
Japan is my favourite. I took fish and chips to Japan in 2013 and have been back there to work nine times now. The food and drink is amazing and the culture is top notch. Also, the customer service and attention to detail is second to none - it gives me inspiration.
When you were a child, what was your ideal job? Why did it appeal?
I wanted to be a chef or in the Royal Navy, because I wanted to see and travel the world, and now I have done both. The Navy also gave me a chance to learn things in a different way from school.
What was your biggest break in business?
Winning the UK Independent Takeaway Fish and Chip Shop of the Year in 2013. That was a massive honour and a dream come true. At that awards ceremony in London, we also won The Good Catch Award for our efforts to be more environmentally friendly, which we are continuing to work on today.
What was your worst moment in business?
The break-up of my business partnership in my last business was a very tough time - along with everything else, I lost my flat above the shop and had to move back in with my parents for a while. But it made me better businessman for it. I learned from some mistakes that would be very costly to me today, so I wouldn’t be where I am if I hadn’t had that dip.
Who do you most admire and why?
The French chef Raymond Blanc. I admire him for his story and the journey he has taken to get to where he is, and for his ethos in business. I was asked to cook for him in London few years ago and we became friends.
What book are you reading and what music are you listening to?
Because I am dyslexic, books are a struggle for me so I don’t tend to get past the comic books, which I collect. As for music, I like indie or acoustic - both are great for chilling out.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here