The restaurant will be located facing out onto the water opposite the Sunseeker yard and will seat over a hundred guests in total.
“I’m really excited about this location,” says Tonks, who also runs the more high-end The Seahorse in Dartmouth and three Rockfish-branded takeaways.
“Not only is it right on the waterfront but the building itself is wonderful with a big apex roof and lovely big space with a few tables outside to soak up the sun in the warmer months.”
Last month, Rockfish reported a sales uplift of 15% to £7.95m for the year end 2019. Tonks says that the past 12 months had represented a “real turning point” for the seafood restaurant business with “tremendous like-for-like sales”.
“In the year we opened a fantastic restaurant in Exeter, appointed Dave Strauss as restaurant director, continued to invest in our current people and our fish supply business, including having a dedicated trawler out at sea,” says Tonks.
In January the company received a £1.5m minority investment from Gresham House Ventures to support its growth, followed by a seven-figure finance facility from HSBC UK in March to support future restaurant openings.
Dishes run from classic seafood options – cockles and malt vinegar; a half pint of prawns; devilled sprats – to the more adventurous – spider crab croquettes; crisp fried prawns with Korean-style chilli sauce; and a fried prawn taco.
