Harry Ramsden's is the biggest fish and chip shop brand in the world. Based in the UK the business has 36 owned and franchised outlets throughout the UK and Irish Republic and serves around 4 million meals annually. Harry Ramsden’s is a resilient and much loved British ‘heritage’ offering. With over eighty years of history, it is Britain’s longest established restaurant chain.
The business was started by Harry Ramsden (1888–1963) in 1928 in a wooden hut in White Cross, Guiseley, West Yorkshire, northern England. Three years later he moved into a 'fish and chip palace', complete with fitted carpets, oak paneled walls and chandeliers. The original hut still stands on the same site adjacent to the main restaurant, which holds the Guinness World Record for the largest fish and chip shop in the world, seating 250 people, serving nearly a million customers a year.
On 19 January 2010 SSP sold Harry Ramsden's to Boparan Ventures Limited. BVL is the private investment vehicle of Ranjit Boparan. BVL plans to open another 100 units in the next five years and create 600 new jobs.
Mr Boparan also owns the Seafood Chain FishWorkds and the West Bromwich-based Two Sisters Food Group, which is among the country's biggest chicken processors and is best known for its Buxted and Devonshire Red brands, as well as supplying own-label products to supermarkets including Marks & Spencer and Tesco