Popular fish and chip shop to shut branch for the final time within DAYS as locals mourn loss
A MUCH-LOVED fish and chip shop in Dundee is frying its last catch – with owners confirming the doors will close for good this week.
Tailend, on Nethergate, will serve its final orders on Saturday, April 27, after almost nine years at the heart of the city’s food scene.
The chippy, run by husband-and-wife duo Darren and Jess Spink, has been snapped up by Mother Hubbard’s – a growing chain with spots in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Locals have been left gutted by the news, with regulars saying they’ll miss everything from the fish suppers to the birthday bashes and quiz nights that made the venue a firm favourite.
Jess and Darren took over the site back in 2016, transforming the former Deep Sea restaurant into a go-to for quality seafood, cracking events and a loyal community of customers.
In a heartfelt message, the couple said: “We have been in Dundee almost nine years and it has been the most incredible journey with our amazing team.
“Adam and Martyna, along with Lianne, Hubert and so many others, have made this shop such a special place for so many customers to want to return to again and again. To them, we are truly grateful.”
Tailend became known for more than just top-tier haddock – hosting everything from Eden Mill gin tastings to St Patrick’s Day quizzes.
But while the Dundee chapter is coming to a close, fans of the brand can still get their fix over in St Andrews, where the Market Street branch will stay open.
The owners also teased big plans for a new spot in Arbroath promising breakfasts, tapas, wine nights and even a deli with smoked seafood and ready-made meals.
Jess added: “We would like to thank each customer who has visited and supported us over the years.”
The new-look Nethergate restaurant will reopen under Faisal Khan’s Mother Hubbard’s brand in May, serving up traditional fish and chips with a spicy twist.
It’s another blow for Dundee’s food lovers but the Tailend team are far from done just yet.
Other shops leaving the high street
Just this week, Costa announced the closure of its coffee shop in Dorset.
And it’s not just food chains and coffee shops that are shutting up shop.
Beales, one of Britain’s oldest department stores, has launched a closing down sale before it shuts its last remaining shop after more than 140 years.
The company will shut its branch in Poole’s Dolphin Centre on May 31.
The sale includes fashion, furniture, gifts and cosmetics, being sold for up to 70% off.
Beales chief executive Tony Brown blamed the “devastating impact” of the rise in national insurance contributions and the higher minimum wage for the store closure.
Meanwhile, Huttons in London will shut its store in the Putney Exchange due to excessive energy costs.
The gift shop became a local icon after it opened in the 1990s.
Meanwhile, high street fashion chain New Look has begun to close stores as it scales back its UK footprint.
It is understood to be shutting nearly 100 stores – equivalent to around a quarter of its 364 shops.
Stores in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, St Austell, Cornwall and Porth, Rhondda Cynon Taf have launched closing down sales.
Reports suggest that the company has been forced to accelerate the pace of store closures due to tax changes in the Autumn Budget.
RETAIL PAIN IN 2025
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April.
A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024.
Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: “The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025.”
Professor Bamfield has also warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
“By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer’s household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.”