Job type

Fish frier

£13.5k - £19k

Typical salary

16 – 39

Hours per week

Fish friers work in fish and chip shops and seafood restaurants. They prepare and cook food, and serve customers.

More info

  • Prepare food and serve customers in fish and chip shops and restaurants
  • Can be a social team environment where you'll meet lots of people
  • Good experience of customer service and catering environments

DAY-TO-DAY DUTIES

  • Take stock deliveries from suppliers
  • Prepare and cook food
  • Serve customers and make up orders
  • Take payments
  • Change oil in the fryers
  • Keep eating and work areas clean and tidy
  • Ordering stock from wholesalers

DAY-TO-DAY ENVIRONMENT

Part-time work is very common, with most shifts covering lunchtimes, evenings and weekends. You're more likely to find full-time work during the summer, especially at holiday parks and at coastal resorts. 

You'll usually work in a shop or restaurant and be provided with a uniform.

You'll need

This role would be ideal for someone with good customer service skills, the ability to work flexibly, patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations, sensitivity and understanding, excellent verbal communication skills, the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure, and thinking and reasoning skills.

There are no set requirements in terms of qualifications, but a good standard of general education, including maths and English, will be helpful.

You could also get into this job through an intermediate apprenticeship in catering.

Some employers may ask for a food hygiene certificate, although you can often get this on the job. You can also do specialist food safety and health and safety courses through the National Federation of Fish Friers. They also offer short courses in fish frying and fish and chip shop management.

Previous catering or customer service experience will also be helpful.

CAREER PROSPECTS

With experience you could become a shop supervisor or manager. You could also move into catering management or set up your own business.