How much would you pay for some chips with your burger? For the owner of Clark’s Bakery it’s worth a “silly” £30,000 investment.
The famous Dundee bakery is planning a new shop in the Fintry area of the city and is looking to spend an astonishing sum to be able to serve chips.
Concerns about the smell of deep fat frying at nearby houses have led Clark’s to arrange to install the same ventilation system that’s used within London’s Shard.
The high-tech system collects oil, grease and smoke particles with the remaining particles then electrocuted in a chemical process to further remove any odour.
People love chips
Clark’s owner Jonathon Clark said: “It’s a system that’s normally used in large commercial kitchens in highly built up areas and the investment is getting a bit silly – but it’s Dundee. People love chips.
“If we weren’t doing chips then the ventilation for the new shop would cost between £2,000 and £3,000.
“This will cost us about £30,000 but the fact is people want chips when they have a burger.
“We are serious about investing in Fintry in a sympathetic way that ensures neighbours and local interests are not adversely.”
Investment and jobs
Clark’s intends to invest more than £100,000 on the premises on Fintry Road, which were formerly a bookmaker and have been vacant for more than a year.
It will be the family firm’s tenth shop in Tayside and follows its first Angus shop being established in Arbroath earlier this year.
Mr Clark said the move to set up a shop in this area of the city is in response to customer demand.
“It will also create 11 much needed jobs for Dundee,” he added.
Electric vehicles
A planning application has been submitted for the change of use required to progress the project.
It includes details of using electric vehicles to carry out deliveries in the area.
Adam Hutcheson, director of Westport Property, who owns the building at 96 Fintry Road, also highlighted the benefits of the proposed ventilation system.
He said: “We are proposing to install the highest specification of extraction and ventilation system that is available on the market, in an effort to guarantee almost no noise or smell output whatsoever.
“The specialist heating, ventilation and air conditioning contractor that designed the system provided detailed specifications so that the performance of the proposed system would exceed local authority requirements.”
Heritage
Clark’s was founded in 1950 by Ernest Clark as a small bakery on the ground floor of a tenement block at 92 Annfield Road.
It was run for almost 30 years by his son Alan before Jonathon, the third generation owner, rook the reins in 2000.
Chips are one of the ingredients in Clark’s famous helicopter burger – a combination of burger, lorne sausage, bacon, fried egg, and chips in a bun.
