Alfred Enderby Expansion Plan
Grimsby's Only Heritage Smokehouse Needs You!
support our expansion plans & save 10% for 2 years...
At Alfred Enderby we have a once in a lifetime chance to expand our premises into Building 13 next door but it couldn’t have come at a trickier time with the cost of living crisis and high interest rates… That’s why we are asking dedicated loyal customers, dear friends and fabulous trade customers to help us to raise vital funds before one of many interested parties beat us to it.
Would you please consider donating £100 to the smokehouse and optionally if you wish to ask 5 of your like-minded friends to do the same? Feel free to ask more, the more the merrier however this is not required! As a thank you we will give 10% discount for two years on everything you buy. I am sorry to ask, when times are so tough for us all, but we will simply miss this opportunity for ever if we don’t take it now. If you have questions or thoughts you are keen to share with me please do not hesitate to contact me. I have outlined our plans for your consideration on the following pages and as always, I am open to ideas and offers of help! Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Alfred Enderby Expansion Plan
The historic 100-year-old smokehouse is based on the oldest part of Grimsby Fish Docks surrounded by redundant Edwardian and Victorian workhouses and buildings which is now a conservation area and subject to investment to regenerate the area. This unique area of the fish docks is known as the “Kasbah”.
Alfred Enderby Smokehouse is listed Grade II as a building of special architectural and historic interest. Its the oldest surviving listed operational smokehouse on Grimsby Fish Docks.
Its distinctive roof form and internal plan with multiple internal smokehouses, make evident it’s use and illustrate the historic character of these key buildings in the fish docks and their fish processing facilities.
Alfred Enderby Smokehouse is listed Grade II as a building of special architectural and historic interest. It is the oldest surviving listed operational smokehouse on Grimsby fish docks and dates from the late 19th century.
Enderby’s Smokehouse accordingly makes a key contribution to the significance, character and appearance of the Kasbah conservation area as a distinctive fish processing building and a remarkable survival from the heyday of Grimsby fish docks.
The Alfred Enderby Smokehouse has survived many challenges over the last 100 years including, two world wars, partially damaged by incendiary bombs during the WWII, the cod wars, Brexit and more recently a global pandemic. It has been these challenges that have helped evolve the business to where we are today.
Diversifying
Historically Alfred Enderby has supplied the wholesale trade selling to restaurants & hotels particularly those at the higher end of the market in London & the South West.
This wholesale business is driven by high production volumes & smaller margins and leaves the business vulnerable when whole fish prices rise. Over the last 5 years we recognised the importance of selling direct to consumer either by mail order or home delivery, and into retail.
Online sales and retail sales demand less volume of fish but a much higher impact on workforce and space demands. Such is this growth that we now seek extra space and resources to cater for this new type of business. Staffing levels have grown over the last year or two and will continue to grow over the next 2-4 years.
Lucky For Us, No 13
Alfred Enderby Smokehouse has very limited processing area, limited storage, very poor and limited staff mess, changing facilities and an extremely small office. We simply cannot grow the business without more room. It has become mission critical to continue along the sales path for growth which demands expansion.
Building No 13 is a post war block and beam brick building which adjoins the smokehouse on our south elevation. The building has been vacant for years and needs a reasonable amount of repair to make serviceable. That said, Building No 13 is in pretty good order compared to many buildings in the Kasbah and being attached to the smokehouse lends itself radially to our plan to expand.
Alfred Enderby currently offers Smokehouse tours to groups, students and private individuals.
This type of promotion benefits the traditional smoking industry, the wider fishing industry and promotes ABP’s activity here in Grimsby.
The limited space and facilities in the Smokehouse have restricted what can be done. Additional space facilitated by Building No 13 will truly enhance the Smokehouse Tour Experience.
Adding a Visitors’ Centre and catering facilities, would allow us to create more experiential visitor experiences such as fish cookery demonstrations and signpost local ingredients and artisan producers.
Geographical Origin
The Protected Food Name formerly known as Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) is now Geographical Origin and refers to Grimsby Traditional Smoked Fish.
Many years ago, Alfred Enderby was instrumental in securing this Protected Food Name for the small cluster of traditional smokehouses that remain in Grimsby.
The Protected Food Name is very important, with approx. 280 Protected Food Names in France and 320 in Italy, yet a little over 80 Protected Food Names in the UK and only one in all of Lincolnshire, Grimsby Traditional Smoked Fish.
Other protected food names such as Melton Mowbray Pork Pies & Scotch Whisky encourage many millions of pounds in tourism revenue for the area they represent and as yet the remarkable smoked fish heritage of Grimsby is under exploited.
As Part of the regeneration program and heritage initiative promoted by North East Lincolnshire Council and Historic England the area of the fish docks known as the Kasbah is being regenerated.
Associated British Ports (ABP) who own the whole site are very supportive offering very significant rent holidays on leases to help that regeneration. These deals are very favourable and well worth taking advantage of!
To not only survive but thrive we need Building No 13 to be our next step…
To completely refit the internals of the building, the estimated cost of £300,000 with work underway to establish true costings as we speak. Historic England & NELC have agreed to pay for the exterior which is an opportunity not to miss.
There is some funding available through other grants which we hope to exploit. However, none of this expansion would be possible without additional funding help.
What the project looks like right now!
- Historic England and NELC has studied the project and are aligned with the plan.
- Historic England and NELC will pay for the repair of the outer shell, including: Roof / Roof Lights / Windows / Rainwater Goods / Brickwork
- Alfred Enderby will deal with all internal repair & fitting, including: Chillers & Freezers / Office Partitions / Flooring / Cargo Lift / Heating / Plumbing / Sanitary Ware / Furniture / Lighting / Fire-Alarms / Processing Room Wall Coverings / Kitchen Appliances & Other...
Our Century Old Smokery
Standing Since 1918
Our traditional brick built smokehouse, with it's distinctive ornate iron cowls is roughly a century old, it gives our smoked fish it’s unique flavour, it comes from the layers of tar that have built up within the smokehouse.
External Renovations
So it begins
External Work
Scaffolding goes up
Shutters
Before & After
Cowls Refurbishment
Before & After
Branded
Traditional Signwritting
The future plans
Lucky No 13
Plans
East Elevation
Plans
North Elevation
“No one has ever become poor by giving” - Anne Frank
As a thank you every individual who generously donates to support our Smokehouse will appear on a plaque on these iconic Smokehouse doors a alongside famous names who have patronised & supported our business.
Your name will be there for you to see when you next visit the Smokehouse and take advantage of your 10% discount with our compliments and everlasting gratitude.
OUR MOTTO “Contra Nado Incrementum” MEANING “Against The Tide We Flourish”
A heartfelt motto given the economic circumstances faced by by the company today.
