Muswell Hill institution Toff’s, for more than 50 years one of London’s best-known family-run chippies, has been acquired by a national group which plans to open more branches under the same name.

The business was taken over this week by The Chesterford Group (TCG), which is based in Bishop’s Stortford and operates 44 sites across southern England under the chippy brands Churchill’s and Bankers and as a Pret A Manger franchisee.

Toff’s was founded in 1968 by Greek-Cypriot Andreas Toffalis – ‘Toff’ – and won the number one spot in the inaugural National Fish & Chip Awards in 1988. Brothers George and Costas Georgiou took over in 1999, but George died of covid in 2020 at the age of 62, since when it has been run by his widow Kika and son Christopher.

Toff’s is consistently rated among London’s top two or three fish and chippies in the annual Harden’s guide, which this year notes its “sensationally good fried plaice” – along with the regular attendance of snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan during the Masters Championships at nearby Ally Pally.

Paul Goodgame, TCG’s managing director, said: “Kika, Christopher and their team did an incredible job after George passed, which as you can image was an extremely difficult time for them.

“We are also proud to confirm that Christopher has agreed to stay on board to help us continue Toff’s success as we also look to open more locations, building on the strength of this economic London brand.”