South African-based affordable seafood brand Ocean Basket has opened its first UK branch in Bromley, southeast London, targeting the growing global appetite for fish and seafood.

Peter ‘Fats’ Lazarides (pictured) and his brother George opened their first restaurant in Pretoria – more than 300 miles from the nearest coast – in 1995. There are now more than 215 Ocean Basket restaurants and franchises in 19 countries – many of them in sub-Saharan Africa.

Lazarides says he drew on his Greek-Cypriot roots by serving Mediterranean-style dishes in the pans they were cooked in, to show that fish and seafood are for everybody – not just a lavish upmarket treat.