Island Fish Ltd began on the 1st May 2015. It is hard to believe that now nearly 9 years have passed since that date. So much has happened, so many highs and although not too many lows there have been a few fraught times - but never once has any of us regretted our decision to develop a business that has become so important to us all, from the very youngest member of the family to the eldest, who at 78 it has to be said is the most enthusiastic of us all!
Our most memorable moments have included the amazing low tide festivals organised by Tresco, by far the highlight of the year with the adrenaline pumping dash to make it mid -channel - and back before the tide turns and of course winning The Best New Business of the Year Award 2016. It was most pleasant to don our posh clothes, walk the red carpet and mingle with the great and the good of the Cornwall and Scilly - nice to get home though! We were all absolutely delighted when Mark Pender ('the Bear'), then Skipper of the Tradewinds received the award of 'Shellfish Fisherman of the Year 2016' in an industry led award scheme. Well deserved, and a fantastic piece of news both for Island Fish and Bryher - for an individual from a small island to be the recipient of a national award is pretty special - to read more about this awards click HERE. Of most recent note of course has been the opening of our new Island Fish premises at Bar, Bryher in April 2018. Quite simply this is our investment in Bryher for the next 50 or so years - representing both an opportunity to grow the business in the here and now but also something that can help support the next generation to live and work on Bryher and in turn bring up their children. Cutting the red ribbon that signified the opening of the building was a moment of huge satisfaction and we sincerely hope it you will come and have a look around, we have tried the make our new premises both functional, attractive but also representative of our heritage.
Working with family has been incredibly rewarding, there is at least one major argument per month during the height of the summer but it doesn't really matter, everything is usually smoothed over with a bottle of wine and a general understanding that everyone is simply tired. Working with family means that everyone has your back no matter what, a feeling that is beyond priceless. Finally during the course of the last 7 years we have learnt much about the younger members of our family, the strength of their love for their home and a way of life that we had no idea was quite so important to them. They are in many ways the stars of the show, without a doubt aggravating and 'all knowing' they have displayed a commitment to the business that makes you feel on the days when the lows outweigh the highs that at least you are doing something right!
Mike Pender, opening the new Island Fish Premises
Most Recently
In 2020 we invested in a slightly larger fishing boat so that we could work more adverse weather in as safe a manner as possible. We welcomed the 'Dorothy Ethel' home to Scilly. in March 2020, a mere 7 days before the first lockdown began! Named after both grandmothers (Mike & Sue;s mums') in tribute to the often unsung work of the women of the family she has helped to increase the capacity of the wholesale arm of the business, whilst providing Mark with a more efficient and safer working environment. Like all business Island Fish had a rough ride in 2020 - with the purchase of a new boat days before lockdown there were a few scary moments . . . but with a few alterations and adaptions to how we did business we weathered the storm that was COVID 19 better than we could have hoped - we opened a mail order branch of the business, started delivering takeaway lobster burgers across the islands, and changed our fishing methods to target more common species of fish in order to meet the needs of the local community, all of which together really helped to pull us through the bad times - so as always a huge thank you to our customers for their overwhelming support, without you we wouldn't be here.
And for 2024
The winter of 2023/24 has seem the coming together of a long term vision to ensure the sustainability of Island Fish well into the future. This has included - as I type the near completion of our long planned build project to provide permanent housing for a members of staff who want to make their home on the island and help build the business long after Mark and I are put out to pasture. We are incredibly proud of this project - building in Scilly is both difficult in every way from permissions to logistics and very very expensive but it is something as a family that we believe in, passionately. Upon completion this building will free up our accommodation pods for rent offering an alternative form of high quality but lower cost accommodation to those people that want to immerse themselves in the island experience - this income steam will also help to support the business during those days when the weather is too poor to get to sea. We will contact everyone our data base when our accommodation pod is ready to take bookings.
At Island Fish itself we have spent some time over the winter playing with a range of ready meals for our customers to try so that they can experience home cooked food without all the hassle of cooking whilst on holiday - who wants that! So this year you will be able to purchase the following: Home Made Beef Lasagne, Home Made Cottage Pie, Home Made Jumbo Fish Fingers and Home Made Garlic, Honey and Lemon Chicken.
We have also extended our merchandise range - to be fair we have gone a bit mad here, but it is all sooo pretty it is difficult to resist as you will find out . .
We have always struggled with the supply of wet fish, simply because we are so busy keeping up with the demand for shellfish and because wet fish brings a few issues in terms of working tides and dollops of weed in nets that then need days to clean out - we have always managed to supply Mackerel and Pollock but Pollock is now banned nationally so we are going to trial buying in whole fish from Newlyn as our closest port to see how that goes - it will be lovely to see wet fish in the cabinet and we hope that you enjoy the fresh taste of local Cornish Fish.
There are a few other changes on the way this year but they have yet to come to fruition so we will update this space as they occur . . but in the meantime we as a family and by that I mean not just bloody family but the family of people who work with us to make Island Fish happen look forward to welcoming you back, its going to be an exciting season . .
Please bring calm seas with you when you come and see us