大象传媒

Latimers Shellfish Delicatessen in Whitburn was named Best Local Food Retailer at the 大象传媒 Food and Farming Awards on 28 November 2007 at a ceremony at the Museum and Art Gallery in Birmingham.

The chair of this year's independent judging panel was cookery writer and celebrity chef, Sophie Grigson and Latimers beat off stiff competition from other retailers from Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire.

Robert with some of the day's catch

The awards

The awards were created in 2000 to celebrate the people and organisations that produce and promote the best of British food.

Robert Latimer, who received the award, said: "We are absolutely over the moon, first of all to have been nominated by our customers, but then to have won the award was just fantastic.

"I got to meet some of my heroes including Rick Stein and James Martin and I have to say I did feel a little overwhelmed."

How it all began

With a lifetime spent in the fishing industry the sea has been a big part of Robert's life, and it has been a dream come true for him to have a career doing something he really has a passion for.

After a spell of fishing on the west coast of Scotland, Robert found it was getting harder and harder to make a living with new government quota restrictions coming into force. So, he made the decision to move back to Whitburn.

Robert with a very large halibut!

He decided to try and make a living selling shellfish on the forecourt of the family-run petrol station.

After a short time the petrol station also came under pressure and the family took a major decision to close it and concentrate solely on the seafood business.

Now and what's next

When asked what types of seafood they sell Robert said:

"I'm not exactly sure, but we do have over 200 different signs advertising our different types of seafood. We can source just about everything we sell from our local fishermen and get through about one tonne of crab meat every week. We have people coming here from all over the country."

Customers admire the seafood on offer

The future plan for Latimers Shellfish Deli is to move its operation into the main forecourt area where the petrol station used to be.

Robert explains: "This will give us a lot more room in the shop and help us to expand our range.

"We also want to open up a caf茅 at the front and convert the upstairs room into a cooking demonstration area, believe it or not, but we are also looking into providing a service online.

"I am so proud of winning the award, but we would not be here now if it wasn't for our hard working fishermen who go out day in and day out in all types of weathers to provide us with the best quality seafood in our country," Robert says proudly.