Keeping up with VC Jones celebrates its 60th birthday If you ever visit the seaside town of Whitstable in Kent, a wander along Harbour Street will have you smiling at the aroma of fish and chips cooked in beef dripping wafting from the doors of VC Jones. And next year (2022) the fish and chip shop with the iconic sign offering ‘fish luncheons’ celebrates their 60th birthday. If you ask any local, they’ll all know someone who has been employed by the business over the years and there is a fondness towards the four generations of the family who run the shop together. The family that fries together stays together In 1962 Vivian and Joyce Jones made the decision to leave London with their two children and relocate to a ‘plaice’ close to their hearts. The building was already a fish and chip shop and over the years the family has maintained the original interior complete with tea towels on the walls. The decorations are so well known that customers bring back tea towel gifts for the family from their travels.
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Chippy Chat & Fast Food Magazine • November 2021
The business has been passed down through the generations and you will always find a member of the family behind the counter. Vivian and Joyce passed their chip scoops to son Viv (it’s a family name) and daughter in law Madeleine and their grandchildren Dan, Matt, and Samantha. Viv is incredibly proud of the heritage in their business, “My gran, so that’s my dad’s mum, ran two fish and chip shops in London which she kept running during the Blitz. With my granddaughter now working at the shop, that makes 5 generations in the fish and chip trade.” Throughout their 60 years the menu has stayed pretty much the same as it was in 1962, with only curry sauce (a popular amongst regulars) added to the menu. Swimming against the current Having sat on the same street for 60 years, VC Jones Fish and Chips has seen and survived a lot. Grandson, Matt Jones says, “Our shop has been there through thick and fin (excuse the pun) and is an institution within our town”. The recent pandemic and lockdown caused the business to make a sudden pivot,
Chippy Chat & Fast Food Magazine • November 2021
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