{"id":465003,"date":"2026-03-08T23:51:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T23:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/465003\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T23:51:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T23:51:08","slug":"fish-and-chip-shops-under-threat-as-iran-war-pushes-prices-higher-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/465003\/","title":{"rendered":"Fish and chip shops under threat as Iran war pushes prices higher | UK | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fish and chip shops across Britain could be hit by rising costs due to the Iran <\/a>crisis, an expert has warned. Oil<\/a> markets have become increasingly volatile amid major disruption to key shipping routes in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

When crude prices rise, the knock-on effects can include higher fuel, transport and business energy costs. Molly Monks, insolvency specialist at Parker Walsh<\/a>, says small independent food businesses are often the first to feel the pressure when global economic shocks hit. She said chippies <\/a>are exposed because they rely heavily on energy-intensive cooking and frequent deliveries of fresh ingredients. \u201cFish and chip<\/a> shops typically operate on relatively tight margins, so even modest increases in fuel, oil or electricity costs can quickly start to bite,\u201d Mrs Monks said. One of the biggest pressure points is the amount of energy required to keep fryers running throughout the day. Cooking at consistently high temperatures uses large amounts of gas or electricity. Mrs Monks said: \u201cFrying food commercially requires constant heat. That means businesses are directly exposed when energy prices begin to rise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Transport costs are another hidden pressure that can increase rapidly when fuel prices move upwards. \u201cIf fuel becomes more expensive, it costs more to move fish, potatoes and supplies across the country,\u201d Mrs Monks said.<\/p>\n

She added that the real challenge is that several costs often rise at once rather than individually. \u201cIt\u2019s rarely just one bill increasing,\u201d Mrs Monks said. \u201cHigher energy prices can also push up refrigeration, packaging and supplier costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Independent takeaways often have fewer financial buffers than large restaurant groups when markets become unstable. Mrs Monks said: \u201cBigger chains may have longer-term supplier contracts or more financial protection.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut small independent businesses often have to respond quickly when costs start rising.\u201d In many cases, that leaves owners facing difficult choices about pricing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf costs continue to climb, businesses may have to increase menu prices or reduce portions,\u201d Mrs Monks said. She warned that sudden global shocks can reach local high streets faster than many people expect.<\/p>\n

\u201cInternational events can filter through to everyday businesses very quickly,\u201d Mrs Monks said. \u201cFor firms already operating on narrow margins, even small cost increases can make a big difference.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fish and chip shops across Britain could be hit by rising costs due to the Iran crisis, an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,1294,5363,166770,59,166773,585,126979,163415,632,2987,681,3783,166771,166772,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-465003","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-energy-bills","11":"tag-fish-and-chip-shops","12":"tag-gb","13":"tag-independent-food-businesses","14":"tag-iran","15":"tag-iran-crisis","16":"tag-iran-israel-conflict","17":"tag-middle-east","18":"tag-oil","19":"tag-petrol","20":"tag-restaurants","21":"tag-rising-energy-costs","22":"tag-small-independent-businesses","23":"tag-uk","24":"tag-united-kingdom","25":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}