It’s a new era for Fruits De Mer in Broadstairs as couple Matthew Keel and Millie Kemp take over the business from boss of 42 years Jason Llewellyn.
Matthew, who worked in marketing for 20 years, says he made a decision to spend more time with Millie and their three children and a conversation with Jason resulted in a complete career change three years ago as he joined the Fruits De Mer team to be trained up ahead of the takeover.
The 43-year-old, from Broadstairs, said: “I have been learning on the job for three years, working with Jason full time and he has trained me and helped me get to this position and I have good support from Aaron who has worked here for 20 years after starting as a Saturday boy.”
Matthew says all the staff will be staying on, alongside himself and Millie who will be “carrying the baton as a family business.”
He added: “There are many transferable skills (from the marketing career) such as customer service, marketing and running as a self-employed trader. I feel very comfortable with business and have learned the fish side hands on.
“The business is such a magnificent resource and part of the appeal was to come in and carry on with it as it would be a travesty to lose it.
“We may bring a different angle on it but we want to deliver the same wonderful produce and service.
“We want to build something and have the passion to carry it forward and do it justice.”
The couple are also in the middle of moving from their Broadstairs home to a new property closer to the shop.
Millie, 34, said: “We are going to be working together so it is a family affair.”
The shop has been a fishmongers for some 100 years and was a chocolate shop prior to that.
Jason began working at the store when he was just 11, taking after school and weekend shifts under former owner Gerald Mills.
When Gerald retired, Jason bought the business despite being just 17 years old.
He said: “My mum had to be my guarantor as I had no idea about business. I didn’t even have a car for the first two years.
“It built up massively and although it is a very small business we supply restaurants all over the country.
“When I started there were 19 fishmongers in Thanet and now this is the only proper fishmonger.
“In the early days there weren’t big supermarkets so we stocked everything, from peas to bread, but then the Co-op came and now there are supermarkets on every corner but they can’t provide fresh fish, some tried but closed their counters down.”
Jason, 59, says in retirement he plans to enjoy all the social activities he and wife Susan – who is carrying on with her career as an accountant- had previously missed as well as travelling, including an already booked fishing trip in Norway.
The dad-of-three added: “I will miss the people most, I made lots of friends over the years.”
For Matthew and Millie, the first day has been a busy one. Matthew said: “It’s been the busiest Monday for a few weeks so we have been thrown in the deep end!”
Fruits De Mer stocks more than 50 varieties of produce for cooking, dressing or selling live.
The shop provides locally landed fresh fish, sourced straight from the sea to the shop, with some 24 local boats and over 1m kilos of fish supplied each year to customers and restaurants local, national and international.
Fruits De Mer is based at 10 The Broadway and can be found online at: https://www.fruitsdemerbroadstairs.co.uk/
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