In December 2008,  2 Local lads,  Kevin Macken and James Waine, from Basingstoke sat down in there local watering hole and decided the time was right to venture into business together.  With a friendship stretching back over 23 years we decided to test it further by forming our Ltd company Mackaines Ltd.

Now we had our company name resolved, we had the dilemma of deciding what we were actually going to go into business and ply our expertise with.  A few slurps later and deciding what our home town was missing we came up with the idea of a traditional fish and chip shop in the town centre where we could offer customers a relaxed atmosphere to enjoy a Great British classic with either a traditional, but large cup of tea or something more fruity, a glass of wine or beer to wash it down.

A few more slurps later and ideas were being flashed across the table, a restaurant with alcohol licence to entice people in to dine in the evening, take away with seafood bar, collection by telephone, meal deal offers, discount and loyalty cards.

Our 22yrs of catering experience combined with 20yrs of Marketing experience were certainly coming to the fore now. We had it, our USP (Ultimate Selling Point), home delivery!!!  We knew then we could be on to a real winner. No one offers Fish and Chips  delivered straight to your door. Recession hit times and the home delivery markets showing a strong growth on sales we had a gap in the market for us to dive into and make a success.

All we had to come up with was a name…

… a few pints later…

… “Festival Plaice” was born!!!

12 months later and an awful lot of hard work we bring you our first shop here in our home town.    Festival Plaice.