A tourist hotspot, recently named the third best pier in the country, has celebrated its traders recording their busiest days ever over the bank holiday weekend.
Folkestone Harbour Arm saw a surge in visitors as the scorching heat drew crowds to the coast, with 1,500 portions of fish and chips served, 1,200 pizzas sold and 500 oysters shucked from some of its businesses.
Bosses at the Folkestone Harbour Arm says the weekend showed how the location continues to go from “strength to strength”
Earlier this month, the destination secured a podium finish from reviewers at The Times, who described it as a “gastronomic nirvana”.
Temperatures across the UK soared to 34.8C on Monday (May 25), setting a new May Day record – only for it to be surpassed the following day.
A spokesperson for the venue said: “Not only was it a record-breaking weekend for temperatures, but also, for multiple independent traders across the site, it was a record-breaking weekend for business.
“Many reported record sales on Saturday, then again on Sunday, and then again on Monday.”
Among those enjoying a surge in demand were brothers Barney and Ross Howard, who operate both Vinnies and Cluck N’ Cow, revealing they went through “almost a tonne” of chips.
Cluck N’ Cow alone cooked 3,000 beef patties over the course of the weekend.
Mark Babins revealed his two businesses Sailbox and The Fish Shack sold more than 500 portions of fish and chips every day
Brewing Brothers Beachside also felt the impact of the heatwave, with the team describing an “incredible energy” across the seafront.
Emily Bennett, the eatery’s general manager, said: “We had trays of fresh dough piled higher than our members of staff and still sold out early on Bank Holiday Monday.
“I think we served up more than 400 pizzas every day.”
Seafood venues Sailbox and The Fish Shack, owned by Mark Babins, were similarly busy.
Across the two sites, more than 500 portions of fish and chips were sold every day.
“In our experience, you only really get fish and chips sales like that when there are loads of visitors from out of town, which is great for Folkestone,” Mark added.
Both Vinnies and Cluck N’ Cow went through a pallet of chips almost equating to a tonneSimon Robinson says he “lost count” of how many bottles of sparkling wine and champagne were sold
“After this weekend, we’re somewhat relieved and delighted our new extension at Sailbox is almost finished to enable us to cater for more weekends like this.”
At the Lighthouse Champagne Bar, located in the beacon at the end of the harbour arm, staff were kept just as busy.
More than 500 oysters were shucked in just two days, while bottles of English sparkling wine and champagne were flowing throughout the weekend.
Simon Robinson, owner operator of the venue, said: “We lost count of how many bottles of English sparkling wine and champagne were sold.
“As is fitting for England’s closest champagne bar to France, our English sparkling wine sales were nearly as high as our champagne sales.”
Folkestone Harbour Arm bosses said they were delighted with what they described as a “record-breaker” weekend, adding the destination continues to go from strength to strength as it “reinvents the traditional English seaside experience”.