7:20pm Saturday 4th September 2010
By Dan Hearn
A new £1m fish market has opened its doors in West Oxford.
Haymans Fisheries yesterday launched its 13,000sq ft store on the Osney Mead industrial estate.
The new location, which will sell 1,000 different items, follows on from the success of the firm’s award-winning shop at the city’s Covered Market.
General manager Ray Lindsey, 40, said it is an exciting time for the company.
He said: “Our opening went fantastically well.
“We were very pleased to see so many people come through the doors. They seemed impressed with the quality and variety of fish on offer and I hope they will turn out to be loyal customers.
“I’ve been working with fish for 15 years and I have to say this is a fantastic time to be a fishmonger. There is a huge demand.”
Shellfish at the shop come from Scotland and freshwater fish, including trout and carp, are sourced from Bibury in Gloucestershire.
Eleven full-time and four part-time staff are currently employed, but bosses say that could increase to 40.
The business was opened by Charles Hayman in 1928, who continued to work for the firm until his retirement in the late 1960s.
It was later bought by a small consortium of Oxford tradesmen, who owned it until 1983 when the current owner took over.
The business grew steadily through the 1980s and 1990s, and in 1995 Mr Lindsay joined the business.
He said: “People eat more fish these days, and expect a far greater variety than they used to in the past.
“These days most people have a much bigger knowledge about food and expect good choice and good quality.”
Mr Lindsay said parking clampdowns resulting from the Oxford Transport Strategy in 1999 hit trade in the Covered Market, and free parking will be a selling point for the new store.
He added that the two-storey market would partly target a growing Asian market and cash-and-carry customers.
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