An award-winning fish and chip shop has 11 members of the same family working at it – spanning across three generations.
If you walk into J-Henry’s Fish & Chips, in Hedge End, Hampshire, you have a pretty good chance of being served by a member of the Lee family.
Shane Lee, 59, who is known as the ‘Codfather,’ not only employs his wife and four children – but his five teenage grandchildren, aged 13 to 15, too.
He set up the business 36 years ago and it’s never left the family – his son Sonny explained that ‘you’re born into it’ and ‘as soon as you’re old enough you’re in the chippy’.
Now, 11 members of the Lee family proudly man the counters and fryers, serving up battered cod and peeling, chopping and frying potatoes.
The Lee family, pictured left to right: Sonny Lee, Scarlett Harris, Charlotte Khaira, Ellie Lee, Charmaine Lee, Beverley Lee, Shane Lee, Brook Ayles, John-Henry Lee, Betsy Lee and Sienna Harris
On the books are Mr Lee, his wife Beverley, 60, and their four children – sons John-Henry, 41, and Sonny, 29, and daughters Ellie, 38, and Charlotte, 25.
Grandchildren Scarlett Harris, 15, Charmaine, 13, Betsy, 13, and Sienna Harris, 13, are also employed at the chippy alongside Sonny’s step-son Brook Ayles, 15.
The youngsters are given their uniforms and put to work from age 11, working shifts around school time.
Mr Lee said: ‘It’s mainly family but we’re up to about 16 staff now. To me, that is my kids and grandkids. It’s lovely.
‘You don’t see family businesses like that these days at all. Now and again we have an argument but it’s usually in jest and most of the time it’s all good’
‘We all have a good working relationship. Some families can’t work together – but it seems to work for us.’
The chippy owner, who goes through 100 tonnes of spuds a year – estimates his family have served over one million portions of chips since he opened for business in 1988.
He was just 23 when he bought the shop – naming it after his son John-Henry – but was already experienced in the industry as he’d worked at a chippy in London from the age of 14.
Now, 11 members of the Lee family proudly man the counters and fryers, serving up battered cod and peeling, chopping and frying potatoes
Mr Lee said: ‘We all have a good working relationship. Some families can’t work together – but it seems to work for us’
J-Henry’s has been awarded a Good Food Award for 2023/24, being recognised for its good quality food, friendly service, and locally sourced produce
The chippy owner, who goes through 100 tonnes of spuds a year – estimates his family have served over one million portions of chips since he opened for business in 1988
Customers have been visiting the ‘proper family oriented’ chippy for over 20 years and even exchange Christmas cards with the Lee family because they value the friendly service so much.
Mr Lee revealed: ‘If we’re doing staff parties, or Christmas parties and Secret Santas, stuff like that with family, I’m usually ‘The Codfather himself, Shane Lee’.
However, the 59-year-old is looking forward to taking a backseat in the business and watch his two sons John-Henry and Sonny take over.
He said: ‘I’m happy for it to go from strength to strength and the boys are going to continue where I have left off.
‘I can’t see it slowing down in the future so they can keep it going and keep it being successful. I look forward to the future.’
Mr Lee said with the ‘current decline in the high street’, being open for such a length period of time whilst competing with fast food chains like McDonalds and KFC is ‘an achievement in itself’.
He added: ‘When we first come down there was none of that sort of thing, none of the big boys were here but now we’ve got all of them as competition. But obviously, we’re still here, the proof is in the pudding.’
Pictured: Henry, Shane and John-Henry Lee in 1995 – customers have been visiting the chippy for over 20 years and even exchange Christmas cards with the Lee family because they value the friendly service so much
Shane Lee (Pictured left in 2000) was just 23 when he bought the shop – naming it after his son John-Henry – now he employs his wife Beverley (Pictured right, aged 19 in 1981) and their four children
The 59-year-old is looking forward to taking a backseat in the business and watch his two sons John-Henry (pictured aged 18 in 2001) and Sonny take over
Pictured: John-Henry Lee aged 18 with his grandfather Henry Lee in 2001
Pictured left to right: Ellie Lee, Sonny Lee, Beverley Lee, Shane Lee and John-Henry Lee with their Good Food Award
John-Henry’s two other daughters, Olivia-Rai (RIGHT), six, and Isla (MIDDLE), two, have even been given their own mini chippy uniform in what is a glimpse into their future
Sonny said the family value a strong work ethic – ‘as soon as you can lift a bag of spuds and tall enough to look over the counter without standing on an oil box, you’re old enough to serve’.
John-Henry’s two other daughters, Olivia-Rai, six, and Isla, two, have even been given their own mini chippy uniform in what is a glimpse into their future.
Sonny said: ‘All the immediate family are now involved in fish and chips. It’s all about good food and friendly service.
‘I know three quarters of our customers’ names and I know about their families and you become friends with them – I know most of their orders.’
J-Henry’s has been awarded a Good Food Award for 2023/24, being recognised for its good quality food, friendly service, and locally sourced produce.
It has also been awarded an Elite Hygiene Award – the highest hygiene rating that can be awarded – for meeting hygiene standards at three separate inspections over eight years.
The Lee family also own another chippy in Hedge End, called The Codfather, however it is under different management.
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