Boss of Birmingham chip shop empire thanks customers and makes everything half price

A chip shop boss with seven shops and plans to open a further six by the end of 2024 has slashed the price of all food at one restaurant by half to say thanks to Brummies for their loyalty. Theo Kyriacou, who runs The Island House with Theo Gavriel and Zack Michael, says he’s working with family-run suppliers to slash prices by 50% at the Edgbaston branch to celebrate expanding in Birmingham.

The Island House has shops in Wolverhampton, Tipton, Dudley Port and Evesham and will open shops in Shard End and Erdington in the coming weeks. Theo Kyriacou said that he will be dropping the price of all food at the 7 Hollies Croft shop on March 4, 5 and 6 to say thanks to Brummies for their loyalty.

The businessman, who lives in Great Barr, said: “Me and Theo (Gavriel) were born in the fish shops and we’ve followed in our fathers’ footsteps. I started out in my dad’s shop in Rotherham but my first one in the Midlands was at Ocker Hill in Tipton, which I opened 13 years ago as Jimmy’s Fish Bar on Toll End Road.”

As well as expanding in Birmingham, The Island Bar has its sights set on new shops in Wednesbury and Tividale by the end of summer. Theo said that while running a food business hasn’t been easy in recent years, he’s looking forward to expanding.

He said: “It is very hard at the moment, I can’t lie to you, things are really hard with costs going up by as much as 40% and wages, gas and electric going up too. But we’ve stuck to our guns and focus on quality and customers have been really loyal, helping the brand to grow.

The Island House exterior showing signage for 50% off food

“We’ve got good relationships with all of our suppliers who look after us, and they give us good prices. Theo’s Foods has given us a lot of support, that’s why we can give Edgbaston customers 50% off everything. We’ve tried to keep our prices as low as possible.”

Theo says that he hopes there will be 13 branches of The Island House open by the end of 2024.

He said: “Our slogan is ‘fresh food comes to those who wait’ and we really do focus on making things fresh. But more than that, we only serve food we’d want to eat ourselves. It’s important to stick to your guns, making sure the quality doesn’t drop.

“The Edgbaston branch has been in the same family for years but we rebranded it a year ago. We wanted to celebrate the customers who have supported us and helped us expand in Birmingham.”

The Edgbaston store can be found at 7 Hollies Croft, B5 7QN.