Whitby girl Ellie Gordon, who plays for the Redcar Athletic lasses’ under 13s, told her dad Les that the team needed a new sponsor and when he asked his company Whitby Seafoods if they could help, they promptly did.

Their name is now proudly displayed on the team’s home shirts. Whitby Seafoods also employs Dave and Cath Barker, parents of goalkeeper Jess Barker.

Not only that, but the football team secured a Whitby double when fish and chip shop Russell’s of Whitby agreed to sponsor the away shirts, courtesy of Redcar businessman Russell Newsome.

The under 13’s are currently top f the North Riding and Tees Valley Girls’ League and are the unbeaten team out of all the age groups.

They are managed by John Patchett with the help of Gary Brannigan.

Scampi is not made using monkfish tails or prawns, although this is a popular myth.  The Scampi itself is made using the tail of the langoustine and is served in breadcrumbs. Here at Whitby we continue the proud tradition of sourcing only the finest quality tails and this is what gives Whitby Breaded Scampi its sweet flavour and succulent texture.

Ireland’s top scampi processor W Middleton & Son (NI) Ltd, trading as Middleton Seafoods, has acquired 100% of the share capital of Rockall Seafoods Ltd.

The two breaded scampi processors are located within sight of each other in Kilkeel Harbour, the main fishing port on the County Down coast in Northern Ireland, home to one of the largest fishing fleets in Ireland.

Jack Cowden of Middleton Seafoods said:

“The coming together of the two businesses will improve the competitiveness of Ireland’s scampi processing industry at a time of acute pressure brought about by very high raw material costs and increasing price sensitivity by consumers as a result of the current economic slowdown”

Middleton Seafoods is a subsidiary of Whitby Seafoods Ltd, the UK’s leading scampi processor. Whitby Seafoods, located in the popular fishing town of Whitby, North Yorkshire, has  built a strong brand and loyal following for Whitby Scampi with both caterers and retail consumers.

Whitby Seafoods has invested £4.5million in Kilkeel scampi processing since 2007 without any assistance from public funds. This is alongside continuing a multi million pound investment programme in their 55,000 square feet, state of the art scampi factory, which is based on a 9 acre site, in Whitby, where they are the largest local employer. Whitby Seafoods intend to continue investing in both Whitby and Northern Ireland in the coming years as Whitby Seafoods Managing Director Graham Whittle explains:

Because of this huge demand for high quality British seafood, we will now be launching our scampi into Tesco stores nationwide on the 5th September. Now people from all over England will be able to go into their local Tesco to sample a taste of Whitby Seafoods’ Scampi.

“We are proud to have worked together with Tesco and that this relationship has blossomed into a national distribution. This is a very exciting opportunity for us to take our Whitby Scampi national with Tesco. Now people across the country will get to understand that Whitby Scampi stands for great quality and a taste of the seaside.” Said Graham Whittle.

“As a Yorkshire girl born and bred, I have always enjoyed visiting Whitby and knew that Whitby Scampi was one of the best! Whitby Scampi has been so popular in Yorkshire and it has such a great British heritage that we knew we had to take this great local line nationwide. The rate of sale of the product was so high in local stores that we knew it was more than worthy of extending nationally. Since then, to help grow their business, we have worked closely with them on some fantastic promotions and sampling activity using their Scampi Camper to raise awareness in store carparks and with money off coupons.”
Says Caroline Bartrop, Tesco’s Regional Marketing Manager.

It was an early start on Friday, James was out of bed before 6.30am (must include this as James may be rewarded for such hard work), and the camper came roaring to life shortly after 7am. A long run along the A64, with the sweeping wind aiding us it seemed at one point that we were about to break the sound barrier… that is not strictly true.

All three days were scorching hot, fortunately we were positioned right next to a nice chap selling Kulfi (Indian ice cream), and Lassi (the drink, NOT the fictional collie dog). We sold a fair bit of scampi, and lots of people had the opportunity to get a taste of the Whitby Scampi goodness.

The Scampi Camper picked up more admirers than James did, In fact, there is a picture of the Marvellous Tea Ladies below, they both love the camper, James, AND Scampi.

James drank far too much gin, the camper used a whole tank of diesel for the return trip, in spite of this it would seem that all concerned had a most wonderful weekend!

Next stop… Clogherhead Prawn festival: www.clogherheadprawnfestival.ie

It wasn’t an easy start to the weekend, James couldn’t find his car keys and the camper had a trip to the petrol station (painful for both parties).

Well, the Saturday was a scorcher, the sun was out and all the kind people of Malton descended upon the market square to try jams and juices, strawberries and soups, breads and beers. And scampi of course!

It was busier than we had ever anticipated, and to those people who arrived in the late afternoon (Saturday) and found that we had sold out; we are incredibly sorry. So many people came to try the scampi that poor old James struggled to keep up. In fact, the combined factors of the heat and the brisk trade, forced James to have half a pint of (very local) beer at the end of the day.

On the Sunday it blew a gale. We still made plenty of friends. And, practically blew home. (and then lived happily ever after(?))

Ps. there is a much more eloquent account of the event at: http://bit.ly/kmEYdh

Watch it online now at http://bbc.in/i4lrAM

We still have 30p off vouchers available but they need to be redeemed before the end of January.  To download a voucher, simply click the 30p off banner on the homepage and register your details. Vouchers can be used at Tesco, Sainsbury’s and ASDA.

See you in the New Year!

 Come and take a look from 24^th to the 28^th November; there are opportunities to see celebrity chefs (such as Gordon Ramsay, James Martin, Rick Stein and Gary Rhodes), and more importantly stop by the Scampi Camper to enjoy a box of Whitby Breaded Scampi and be dazzled by our charm and wit.

 (We’re located at B70… I’m sure you’ll smell us once we’re cooking!)