Our Story
Henderson’s Fishmongers is the latest chapter in a long family relationship with the sea and sustainable fishing.
Hi, we are Brett and Donna Henderson, and we want to share how our passion for the sea and fine seafood comes into every aspect of our family business; it’s our love of seafood that ensures you get only the freshest fish from sustainable sources.
It’s no surprise that the sea runs in our veins. Brett’s grandfather was a sea fisherman out of the Faroe Islands for his whole career, Brett grew up listening to his stories of fishing the open sea - real Fisherman’s Tales!
Donna has been fishing with her brothers from the age of 2, starting with crabbing from the quay and mackerel fishing on dayboats, she moved on to bass, and her brothers are still out fishing every week!
Brett’s grandad would tell stories of his time at sea; stories like this stay with you for a lifetime so when we got the chance to go out on a traditional working shellfish boat, we jumped at it. Our skipper Ian explained how fishing has changed to ensure that the catch is sustainable and kept at peak condition. Some things at sea don’t change though, and as we watched the crab and langoustine being hauled from the depths, we were caressed by a northerly wind and a fair amount of horizontal rain. The experience brought Grandad’s stories to life.
This memory of a family day at sea back in 2014 was the trigger for us to found Henderson’s Fishmongers; our combined family knowledge of fish and fishing inspired us to acquire the expert skills of a contemporary fishmonger.
There’s a lot more to it than just reeling in a line! Food hygiene is absolutely key, along with filleting skills and preparation; we also needed to learn the way the markets work and build relationships with the skippers that provide our local catch.
We want to give our customers as much local fish as possible; we have such fantastic resources near us and it’s super-fresh, healthy and environmentally sound. As we continue to support local fishermen and local businesses, we’ll introduce you to some of the heroes behind the skipper’s wheel -quite a few of them are family as well, but all of them are part of our community.
Community is important to us; Donna’s life in education has been devoted to passing on learning to a new generation. We have strong links with local mental health charities, and we’ll carry on working in and for our community. The support we’ve received so far from friends and neighbours has been amazing.
We can’t wait to make you a part of our story, so pop in and say hi, and take home some of the finest British seafood available.