AN Eden chip shop owner has spoken of some of the positive developments the past six months have brought his business.

Shap Chippy, run by Matt and Ashley Phillips, has reportedly gone from strength to strength during the pandemic months - being one of the few businesses in the area that has recruited rather than cut staffing levels.

Having shut for a number of weeks during the ‘height of lockdown’, according to Mr Phillips, the business used the time away from serving up chippy teas to reorient his shop’s business model towards a more nimble, tech-driven approach.

This includes a mobile chip shop service operated through a newly-acquired van (a weekly route can be found on Shap Chippy’s social media channels), as well as a new app customers have largely ordered their meals through over the course of recent months.

Mr Phillips says the van had only just arrived in February after he and his partner ordered it in October - not knowing then, of course, what 2020 would throw at the pair.

As with a number of other areas of the business, Covid-19 has forced Shap Chippy - which has netted a number of national awards in recent years - to accelerate its shift towards a more tech-led approach.

“It’s been a really useful thing, in that respect, even despite all the challenges it's thrown at us. We’re actually looking to expand this side of the business now, given that we’re in the middle of the Eden valley here,” he said.

With the springtime shutdown also came a re-training of the chippy’s team (then at 16, there are now more than 20 workers on the company’s books).

“We’ve had staff walking customers [verbally or virtually, not in close physical proximity] through how to navigate the apps - we also try to direct people to the website, for those without smartphones,” Mr Phillips explained.

“We’ve seen a lot of people who in the past would maybe visit once a month become fully-fledged regulars.

“Although, especially since restrictions have been ramped up again, we’ve seen the composition of our customers change.

“For instance, we used to get between 50 and 100 people a week coming down to Carlisle. That’s almost disappeared now, since most people can’t justify travelling that distance for food at the moment.”