George Baxter is the driving force behind Fresh Fish Daily and a man who has spent more than 40 years in the fish business. At every step on his journey – from working on the boats as they harvested haddock from the North Sea to overseeing an operation that encompasses two high-street fishmongers, a fish processing and storage factory, a wholesale operation and Fresh Fish Daily – he has had to adapt to rising demand for his services.
A bigger facility, better processes, extra staff, more modern premises, another shop – it’s not the overnight success those who watch or take part in The Apprentice could be forgiven for thinking is there for the taking if you set your mind to it. It’s graft. It’s being able to spin a thousand plates at once and still maintain a happy home life. And it’s learning two crucial lessons: take your time and do your homework.
So when his thoughts turned to selling fish and seafood online, George didn’t rush it. He gathered a small team of people he trusted who had expertise and enthusiasm for his idea, and they took their time.
The first step was to see who was selling fresh fish online and identify their strengths and their failings.
They looked at prices and found huge discrepancies. How could prices vary so much? Were customers getting value for money? How were customers supposed to know what was a good deal and what wasn’t?
They looked at who delivered where and when, how much it cost and what the minimum order was.
They looked at packaging. How robust was it and was it up to the job?
They looked at what was being sold and how it was sold. By weight or by portion? How much was a portion? This cut or that cut? Fresh or frozen? If someone with more than four decades’ experience in the fish trade couldn’t fathom what they were buying when they clicked “add to basket” then the average member of the public didn’t stand a chance.
They looked at how the products were presented and were mostly disappointed.
They looked at the way other sellers used language to get their message across. Was it clear? Was it patronising or hard to understand?
The next step was simple to say but infinitely harder to take: do it better than everyone else.
George knew the quality of the produce was unbeatable. The challenge was to get the prices, delivery, packaging, portions, photography and tone of voice right. With solid foundations, Fresh Fish Daily could build and build.
It took more than a year of hard work, strategic thinking, collaboration and a few false starts, but we got there in the end, launching on 15 January 2020.
At the time of writing (early June), that now seems a lifetime ago. Like many people and businesses we have taken the opportunity to reflect on how we got here and where we are going, and we believe we’re on the right track.
- Thanks to customer feedback we are confident our fish and seafood are the best.
- We deliver to more parts of the UK mainland than anyone else.
- Our packaging keeps fish and seafood fresher for longer than any other methods on the market.
- Our prices are the lowest you’ll find for products of the same standard.
- Our photographs show the products in their best light.
- Lastly, we are as clear as possible about what you’re buying, where it’s from and how it gets from our premises to your door.
With these fundamentals in place, it’s our goal to be the number-one supplier of fresh fish and seafood to homes throughout the UK mainland.
What makes Fresh Fish Daily different? We’re the best.
