Smarts Fish and Chip Shop at 47 Oxford Street is listed as ‘temporarily closed’ online, the latest in a series of business changes over recent years.

The popular takeaway first shut in 2018 after the owners put up a sign saying they were on holiday and then, mysteriously, did not seem to return, and the property was repossessed.

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It was then reopened and run as a successful family venture after a two year interval in 2020, taken over by Ana and Cristiano Barbosa.

The owners said customers were ‘chuffed to bits’ that the business was back as it was the only chippy around and enjoyed a good reputation in the area.

Smarts Fish and Chip takeaway in Oxford Street, Woodstock (Image: Google)

Now, however, Smarts is once again shut, and it’s being offered for sale to a new management team.

A listing online is offering the leasehold of the ‘fully equipped and fitted’ vacant fish and chip shop for sale at £28,000 plus VAT annual rent.

It is described as an ‘attractive double-fronted glazed frontage with excellent natural light’, as well as having a rear prep kitchen, potato prep area and basement storage.

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It also has an enclosed garden courtyard with a powered shed for ‘storage or ancillary use’.

The shop, which is around 1,230 sq ft, seats 32 covers in a dedicated customer seating area.

Previous owners explained the enduring popularity of fish and chips with locals and its prime spot for tourist footfall.

JOSEPH GABRIEL LAGONSIN

News Editor

Millions of UK sports fans are overpaying for broadband and TV bundles after their contracts end, according to research commissioned by comparison site Uswitch. The price gap can exceed £400 a year.

Its analysis found that premium bundles combining broadband, TV channels and live sport can rise to more than £180 a month once a 24-month term expires. By contrast, similar access bought separately through standalone broadband and monthly sports streaming services costs about £88 a month for Sky Sports and TNT Sports together.

The findings suggest widespread confusion among households that take bundled services. More than a third of bundle customers believe they must stay with their current broadband provider to keep sports access. Among those whose existing package already includes sport, that rises to 53%.

Uswitch estimated that the average out-of-contract customer on a sport-inclusive bundle could be paying about £35 a month more than necessary for the same coverage. Across the products it examined, that works out at roughly £422 a year.

Contract shock

The study compared advertised offers and standard rates across major providers including Virgin Media, Sky, BT and EE. The biggest monthly gaps appeared in Virgin Media bundles, where a sport package cost £151 a month out of contract against a cheaper standalone equivalent, while a sport-and-cinema package reached £185.

Sky packages also showed a sharp jump after introductory terms ended. A Full Fibre 300 bundle with Sky Sports rose from £61 a month on an initial deal to about £119 on standard pricing. Adding Sky Cinema lifted the monthly bill to about £136.

BT and EE showed smaller, though still notable, differences between combined packages and separate purchases. Sport-focused customers on those services could still pay between £7 and £21 a month more than for a comparable mix of broadband and apps.

The research also suggested that many households sign up for extra services around major fixtures and then fail to cancel them. One in five UK adults said they had upgraded a package to watch a specific sporting event, and 21% of that group said they never cancelled the add-on after the event ended.

Only 9% of bundle customers said they regularly check what is included in their package. Another 13% said fear of losing TV or sports access was one reason they had not switched or downgraded.

Changing habits

The economics of sports viewing have shifted as broadcasters and telecoms groups increasingly offer access through standalone apps as well as fixed-term TV bundles. Uswitch said average standalone fibre broadband at speeds between 400Mbps and 550Mbps now costs £21.87 a month across the eight providers it tracked.

Adding a NOW Sports monthly pass at £34.99 and TNT Sports through HBO Max at £30.99 brings the total to £87.85, or roughly £88 a month. For viewers following only one competition or broadcaster, the monthly cost can fall to about £55.

That flexibility is becoming more important as households scrutinise discretionary spending. While some customers who watch several sports throughout the year may still find value in a bundle, the study suggests many stay put because they assume access to sport depends on keeping broadband and TV with the same supplier.

Opinium surveyed 2,000 UK adults for the research. Based on the polling and national population estimates, Uswitch calculated that about 7 million adults are bundle customers who believe they must stay with their provider to keep sports channels or sports streaming services.

The broader market shift is also visible in broadband pricing. Some full-fibre services now start at £16 a month for about 500Mbps, helped by competition from regional providers and wider network availability, according to Uswitch.

Ernest Doku, broadband expert at Uswitch, said: “When a broadband or TV bundle ends, prices can soar, with some premium packages climbing past £180 a month. Many fans wrongly believe they must stay with their current provider to keep watching live sport, but switching to standalone broadband and rolling monthly sports apps can often deliver the same content for a fraction of the cost.

“That said, bundling can still be the cheapest option for heavy TV viewers who watch multiple sports year-round. With providers competing hard for new customers, switching to a new customer deal is a great way to capture savings without having to unbundle your services.

“Full-fibre prices have fallen to as little as £16 a month for a 500 Mbps plan, driven down by competition from regional providers. And with 80% of UK homes now having access, most households can find significantly better value than was available just a few years ago.

“With a huge Summer of Sport ahead, now is the perfect time to check your contract status. Reviewing what you actually use and comparing the latest deals could save you hundreds of pounds a year.”

World Cup organisers are set to introduce a Super Bowl-style half-time show for the final, a move that could extend the interval beyond the usual 15 minutes.

The change is prompting discussion among advertisers, broadcasters and media groups about how a music-led break could alter audience behaviour during one of sport’s biggest televised events.

Research cited by adtech company Adlook found that 56% of people in the UK planning to watch the tournament will be casual viewers. The study also found that 48% expect to stop watching once their team is eliminated, underlining how sharply audience numbers can shift as national interest fades.

Against that backdrop, marketing executives argue that an entertainment segment in the final could help keep occasional viewers watching for longer, particularly if the performers attract people with little interest in football.

Keith Arrowsmith, Global Marketing Director at Onetag, said the show could reshape campaign planning around the final and widen the range of content publishers produce around the event.

“Huge events like the World Cup always bring a spike in attention. Millions of people tune in, fully engaged, creating a substantial opportunity for advertisers across media. That will be especially true this summer following the introduction of an inaugural World Cup final half-time show. With megastar performers taking the stage, campaigns are likely to be planned differently to capture even more attention.

Audiences who might not usually engage with football will tune in for the show and consume online content around it. That creates new editorial opportunities for publishers and, in turn, broader coverage for advertisers: more content, more inventory, and more environments for effective campaign creative.

TV campaigns already in place for the tournament provide the appointment to view. Online advertising, alongside that, creates opportunities to engage. The latest programmatic technology gives brands easy access to highly immersive online advertising that audiences can interact with and explore at scale.

With just under a month to go until the tournament kicks off, there is still time to create strong brand experiences with programmatic creative technology. Combining the potential of appointment to view and appointment to engage will make brands that use both this year’s World Cup winners,” he said.

Audience split

For brands, the main issue is not simply the larger audience a half-time concert may draw, but that viewers may be watching for different reasons. A football audience focused on match tension and national rivalry may respond differently from viewers drawn in by celebrity performers.

Dan Ward, Deputy UK Country Manager at Seedtag, said the line-up could change assumptions about who is watching and what messaging will feel relevant during the break.

“The halftime lineup changes the conversation around who is actually watching. Madonna, Shakira and BTS bring in audiences with no particular interest in football, and that shift matters for how brands show up in that moment, in publisher content covering the event, and in the lead-up to it.

A campaign built around match tension and national pride reads very differently to an audience that switched on for the music and celebrities. The emotional context shifts completely. During the match, viewers are riding tension, nervous energy and the drama of every moment. Their attention is reactive and charged. The halftime show resets that entirely. Suddenly you have audiences in a completely different headspace: celebratory, open, and leaning in for a different kind of experience. Those are distinct emotional signals, and brands that understand the difference, using neuro-contextual insight to align their creative with what is actually driving engagement in that moment, are far less likely to feel out of place.

It will be interesting to see how brands adapt their messaging around the halftime window, and how audiences respond to the music format, particularly in markets where traditional punditry and match analysis are such a key part of the viewing experience,” he said.

His comments also point to a possible tension for broadcasters. In many markets, half-time has long been reserved for tactical analysis, highlights and studio discussion, and replacing or reducing that format may not appeal to supporters who expect a more conventional presentation.

No precedent

For media buyers and planners, the final presents an unusual problem because there is little comparable data on how audiences will behave during a World Cup final with a major live entertainment slot built into the interval.

Matt Longley, CEO at Mobsta, said the lack of historical precedent means brands may need to focus less on the match itself and more on audience movement in the surrounding hours.

“With the release of the anticipated half-time performers, the real story for advertisers is what it tells you about how audiences are going to behave. It will be interesting to see how the announcement starts shifting behaviour in the weeks before July 19: where people plan to watch, how footfall moves around cities on the day, and which areas see an unexpected surge.

There’s also a question of who tunes in who otherwise might not. Madonna, Shakira and BTS bring audiences that do not necessarily follow football, and that changes the profile of who is watching during that ad break.

This is the first World Cup final with a show at this scale, so there is genuinely no historical data to draw from. Brands focused mainly on the 90 minutes may find the more revealing picture lies in what happens in the hours around it, and whether their campaigns reflect how people are actually going to show up,” he said.