Haywards Heath fish and chip shop owner retires: Viv leaves behind ‘a legacy of delicious food and countless memories’

Viv Cottenham, 67, sold Washingtons Fish and Chips at 56 America Lane on Tuesday, May 7.

Viv, who has lived in Haywards Heath her whole life, made the announcement on Facebook on April 27, saying: “With great sadness, I must inform you that I have made the decision to sell my business after 25 years of your custom.”

She said: “It is time to move onto pastures new, but I am so very grateful to you all for your support.”

Speaking to the Mid Sussex Times this week Viv said she bought the business from the last of its three previous owners in 2006, after having worked there for years.

Viv said: “I started working in there part time when the kids started going to school.”

She said: “The last owner Jim Broom offered me management or to buy it because I worked for him full-time for about three or four years. So I thought ‘I might as well buy it, I know what I’m doing, I’ve been here long enough’.”

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Viv described running the chip shop as ‘brilliant’ and loved getting to know all the customers and helping them out if they did not have the right amount of money.

She also gets on well with Martin Jupp, of Jupps Fish and Chips, in Burgess Hill. "If I’ve got a problem I’ll ring him,” said Viv. “He’s always helping me out. If I’ve run out of potatoes, I’ll just go over there and nick a few of his.”

Viv said the past few years since the Covid pandemic have been tough, adding that the war between Russia and Ukraine has also pushed up the prices of fish, potatoes, batter mix and rice cakes.

She said: “The past couple of years it’s been really stressful but my customers kept me going. I love all my customers, I’ve got great respect for all of them.”

Viv added that she was the first fish and chip shop in the local area to serve gluten-free options every day because she wanted to cater for everybody.

She said she had been thinking about retiring for about two years but said the business, which has been sold to a new owner, will continue as a fish and chip shop under the Washingtons name. She now plans to take a couple of months off to recharge before doing some part-time work.

Viv said she will miss her customers, adding: “They're all friendly and we all chat and laugh and I'm going to miss all that.”

Viv’s granddaughter Sophie Windsor said Viv is ‘leaving behind a legacy of delicious food and countless memories shared with the locals of Haywards Heath’. She said: “Her departure marks the end of an era for Washingtons Fish and Chips, but also a new beginning for Viv. Throughout her career, Viv has been more than just a business owner; many have called her a ‘mainstay of the community’, a friend to many, and a generous soul who has contributed to our town’s spirit.”