Originally a mobile fruit & veg shop, Bell’s Fishmongers has evolved over five decades to become a multi award-winning business that prioritises exceptional customer service.
That evolution has included adapting to the huge changes in how Brits eat, and the Carlisle business now offers a wide range of value-added products alongside fresh fish, shellfish and game.
It’s far cry from Bell’s early days in the 1970s, when current owner Tony Bell worked alongside his father, who started the business selling fruit & veg. The mobile shop expanded its offer to fish and game before moving into a bricks-and-mortar shop in Carlisle. It later relocated to the city’s indoor market, where it built up a loyal following and reputation for quality.
In the late 1990s, it moved again to its current main shop in the industrial hub of the city. The most recent expansion came in April 2019, when a Bell’s concession opened in Carlisle’s Pioneer Foodstore.
“We had a long-standing relationship with Pioneer, supplying fish and game to their wholesale customers,” explains Hayden Cutting, who runs Bell’s Pioneer concession. “We haven’t looked back since opening, it has gone strength to strength and has seen continuous growth.”
Today, as well as offering retail and wholesale supply of fish, shellfish and game, Bell’s supplies produce to farm shops across the country, independent butchers, convenience shops, service stations and other independent fishmongers.
Tony now runs the business alongside his son Philip, who are both described by Cutting as hands-on grafters.
“Tony excels with the practical, hands-on side and Phil is the master of all things technical and budgetary,” he adds.
Bell’s receives daily deliveries of fish from Scotland’s fishing ports on the east and north coast and Shetland, which is landed, sold and in Carlisle on the same evening. Championing this British produce over imported fish is a core pillar of the business.
“We support and buy as much local fish as we can get our hands on.” says Cutting. “Local scallops, trout, crabs, lobsters, langoustines, flatfish, wild bass and whelks can be on the slabs in under an hour from landing.”
Both of Bell’s retail sites have large fish displays offering a mix of shellfish and fish that is sold whole and boneless.
The business is keen to offer a variety of items to cater for different tastes and cooking abilities and has developed products in response to changes in what and how consumers eat, and the shift away from scratch cooking.
“Lifestyles and working patterns have become much less sociable and the ‘family dinner’, as it was, is a different affair nowadays: four different meals for four different people at four different times,” says Cutting.
“We have had to keep up with the times and change the way we sell and prepare our products to cater for this change in shopping and eating habits.”
The business sees one of its roles as helping to increase UK fish consumption, he adds. “We know what it is, where it’s from, how to prep it, what it tastes like and how to cook it.”
Bell’s value-added lines includes traditional offerings such as fish cakes and fish pies as well as healthy lines that require minimal preparation and showcase high-quality ingredients.
“Over the years the customer has lost a lot of the skills, knowledge, and confidence they once had to cook and prepare the products we sell,” says Cutting.
“That’s why it’s crucial our team have an in-depth understanding of the products we sell, so we can prepare, advise, and educate them and give them confidence again to enjoy this wonderful produce.”
That team includes fishmongers, chefs, drivers and back-office people who “keep the wheels turning, lights on, shelves full and most importantly customers happy and keep them coming back, time after time”.
Among them are individuals who have been with the business for decades, such as Dave Nugent, who ran Bell’s mobile shop before retiring and has since come out of retirement to drive delivery vans part-time. Meanwhile, Stephen ‘Toller’ Lytollis – described as Bell’s ‘ninja knifeman’ – has been with the business for 25 years and processes thousands of fish every week.
One of the more recent recruits is development chef Kelly Smith, who was formerly head chef at two of Carlisle’s top restaurants and has transformed the Bell’s product range in her five years with the business.
“She does it all, from bespoke fish platters and handmade fishcakes to coquille St Jacques, dressed lobsters and venison wellingtons,” says Cutting.
The expertise of the Bell’s team is one thing that differentiates the business from supermarkets, as is the flexibility it can offer shoppers.
“Supermarkets have a one-size-fits-all approach,” says Cutting. “If you only need one salmon portion with the skin off, tough, you must buy two in a pack and they come skin on. Whereas you can buy one or as many as you like from us. We even cut to size – bigger or smaller, it’s no problem at all.”
Such service played a big role in Bell’s wowing the judges at the 2024 Farm Shop & Deli Retailer Awards. The business was declared fishmonger of the year in April, just 12 months after being crowned best large retailer in the north west region in the 2023 awards.
“We’re so proud to be winners of the fishmonger of the year award; it’s fantastic to see all the blood, sweat and tears that go into this trade have paid off,” Cutting says.
“Hopefully, we can inspire others across the UK to strive for excellence, get more British fish on our plates and increase overall interest and demand for the trade.”
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