Cameron Hinton, 21, opened the doors to his first customers at the refurbished Hampton Chippy yesterday, following two months of work carrying out the revamp.
The big moment follows his time working in chip shops in Stratford and Redditch, as well as helping to reopen the Hampton two years ago under the previous owners.
Cameron, from Stratford-upon-Avon, then spent four months working as a sales rep in Cyprus before struggling to find work when he returned last August.
“I had the time of my life in Cyprus, but when I came back, I couldn’t find a job even though I applied for everything,” he said.
“I ended up working with my mate in construction until the Hampton Chippy came about. I was offered it, so I took it.
“The shop needed a lot of work, so it was just a case of working three days a week and spending the rest of the week here fixing things and buying new equipment.
“When we opened the doors I was thinking, “have I done the right thing here?” because for the first hour no customers came in, but after that it was a good turnout.
“It’s been hard work, especially doing the bodybuilding every day around getting the chippy off the ground.
“I’ve just kept going on caffeine.”
Cameron, who trains as a bodybuilder every morning before work and instructs others, is adding his own touches to the menu at the Peewit Road chippy, which was established in 2014 and had been shut for four months before he took over.
They include lightly battered chips and ‘pitta pockets’ with a choice of fillings.
“The locals are very happy the shop is back open and they like the chips,” he said.
“Some of them have never had battered chips before.
“They are very thinly coated in batter, you don’t notice it, it just makes the chips a little bit crunchier.
“Some people say it’s like Marmite, you either love them or you hate them.”
Jack Bridger, assistant manager, added: “We are the only ones doing battered chips in Evesham and have the freshest and best fish and chips. It’s made with love and passion by our hard-working young team.”
