Britain's oldest chip shop worker, John Panayis, 91, from Northampton, still hauls 20kg bags of potatoes around his shop and jokes, “If I came back after I died, I’d probably be a fish.”
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00:00My name is John Anais. I was born on the 8th of March 1933.
00:11I work in my fish and chip shop right now, but prior to that I used to own restaurants.
00:20But five years ago I sold my last restaurant and I came here to help my son and I've been here ever since.
00:30So you're 91 and you work in a fish and chip shop?
00:35Yeah.
00:36Why are you still doing it at the age of 91?
00:39I suppose it's the genes or my diet, it's the way I live.
00:46Eat the right food, drink the right amount.
00:53That's all I put it down to and of course I enjoy working.
00:57I love working, I love being with people, I love serving with people.
01:02And yeah, that's what it takes I guess, you know.
01:07Some people would maybe say, why don't you put your feet up?
01:11I tried it, it lasted a couple of months and after that I found it very boring to retire and nothing to do, nowhere to go.
01:20I find it more comfortable working and being with people.
01:24I like working with fish and I like cooking.
01:29Also I like the simplicity because fish and chip shop is not as hard as restaurants because restaurants is this hard work.
01:41But fish and chips, if you've got the right materials, change your oils, keep the place clean, people will come and see you.
01:51We're doing quite well, the neighbourhood is supporting us quite well.
01:57We are very pleased and very grateful to them.
02:01They expect to see me here and I hope I'll be here for a long time because I've got no plans of retiring or anything like that.