Former jockey Richard in it for long haul

POWERFUL gales whip up dark and increasingly angry clouds ready to unleash a massive storm.

Relentless rain showers lash against the trawler, the turbulent deep blue sea contrasting against a bright white swell, which is clawing at the vessel and rocking and rolling it towards its destination.

On board, its skipper is engaging in an elaborate game of chess, his navigational equipment plotting new moves on its grid to combat Mother Nature's forces.

Down below, his crew oversee their haul of fish, which was caught just hours ago and now lies frozen and neatly arranged in boxes to retain its freshness.

Once safely back to shore, these boxes are transferred by Collins Seafoods, based in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, across the country to its vast array of fish and chip shop customers and wholesalers.

REELING IN THE CATCH: Trawler crews haul their catch onboard before the fish is then frozen in large crates before bring brought to shore and distributed

The company, which employs 16 workers in the North-East, and a further eight at its Leeds depot, supplies a vast variety of fish, from Canadian Dogfish to Icelandic Cod.

Throughout the year, it distributes more than 10,000 tonnes of seafood across the UK, with its products regularly satisfying thousands of palates at dinner tables and chip shops across the region.

But the company, whose vessels benefit from the shipping forecast to maintain the nation's traditional takeaway appetite, may never have taken its own path to success if its founder had continued in a previous career.

Richard Collins, the firm's managing director, was once a professional jockey, riding winners and delighting punters at various courses, including Sedgefield, Wetherby and Newcastle.

But after notching about 50 successes in the saddle, and riding out his apprentice weight allowance, he went in search of a new thrill and despite putting the silks away, the mantra of being the first past the post still remained.

However, this was different.

Instead of guiding his mount around a track and outlasting rivals in the sprint to the line, he was now overseeing the birth of his company and its efforts to grow and beat a whole new variety of competitors.

The business actually started in his kitchen freezer with fish picked up in North Shields, North Tyneside.

ENJOYING SUCCESS: The offices of Collins Seafoods

As a jockey, Mr Collins was used to the bumps and bruises the sport invariably handed down, and says the change in direction was more than a manageable transition.

He said: “I was an apprentice jockey in 1969, and was the perfect fit being five foot tall and six stone.

“I worked with Scobie Breasley, in Epsom Downs, and then moved to work with Bill Murray, in Middleham, North Yorkshire, and Arthur Stevenson, in Bishop Auckland, County Durham.

“In those days, when jockeys got to about 30, they were smashed up with injuries and concussion from all the falls, so I started this business in 1980 as a one man operation going up to North Shields.

“There was my freezer in my kitchen and I was going up to North Shields every day.

“I started selling the fish to people, pubs, and then the fish and chip shops and wholesalers.

“I was getting up at 4am and by the time I'd had finished it was 7pm.

“Once I'd had my tea it was close to 10pm and that was the end of another day.

“In those early times, you were doing 18 hours every day just to get the business established and you were doing everything yourself.

“But to succeed, you need to have the right work ethic and attitude, and you have to put that hard work in to get started.

“Sometimes, when you're getting up so early and it's blowing a blizzard of snow and your little van is being blown all over the road, you wonder if it is worth it?

“But you get your bad times and you just have to get your head down and carry on.”

Instilled with this strong attitude and will to succeed, handed down from his time with the horse trainers, Mr Collins has seen the business expand at a rapid pace.

It now delivers its hauls of fish across the UK every day, using a coldstore in Grimsby and its Newton Aycliffe headquarters, which looks after sales, and its Leeds warehouse, to keep deliveries moving.

He said: “I bought a small warehouse in Bishop Auckland, a bigger one in Newton Aycliffe, then this place, and the depot in Leeds.

“The majority of fish and chip shops some time over the year will be taking deliveries off us, and people don't realise what we do.

“We deliver between eight and 10,000 tonnes of fish every year, and when you consider that the industry has about 50,000 tonnes a year, that means we have about 20 per cent share of that market.

“Our main market is fish and chip shops across UK and Ireland who supply fish and chips, and the benefits of our success comes from our commitment to using frozen at sea methods.”

The frozen at sea technique aims to provide customers with fish as fresh as the moment it left the sea.

Mr Collins says that, in the past, with trawlers prowling the North Sea for up to two weeks, the first catch could lose its texture and taste.

However, frozen at sea quickly moves trawled fish into holding tanks and shift it within an hour into ice to maintain its freshness.

He said: “Everything we catch is sustainable and the fish comes from Iceland, Faroe Islands, Norway, Spain, Germany, Poland and Russia.

“The benefits of frozen at sea is that it brings consistency, both in quality and in price.

“It means that buyers are not having to change their prices all the time, from £5 a kilo to £10 a kilo, and the product is caught, packed and frozen within six hours.”

Mr Collins says the system is paying rich dividends, with existing and new customers continuing to increase their demand for its products, putting the company in a strong position.

He said: “There is still a good future for fish and chips because it is a traditional dish that everyone likes.

“You will always find someone, even in the new gastro pubs, who wants it.”

For many, life as a sportsman, and its rich trappings, are the pinnacle of success, an unimaginable and unreachable goal.

For Mr Collins, the feeling is the same, and he says he wouldn't change a thing.

He said: “I had some good times as a jockey and I wouldn't change any of it.

“To do something in sport that you enjoy is great and being around people like Arthur, who had a terrific work ethic, was so character building and rewarding.”