The vendor opportunity at Fish & Chips
Fish & Chips is a quick-service restaurant concept headquartered in Texas with a total footprint of 5 units—3 company-owned and 2 franchised—as disclosed in its 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document. For software vendors, the addressable market is small but concentrated: every location operates under direct HQ control or a franchise agreement that mandates specific technology. The royalty rate is 5.0% of gross sales, and the initial franchise term runs 10 years, with four additional 5-year renewal terms available if conditions are met. Average unit volume is not reported in the FDD, so vendors will need to estimate total addressable spend based on unit count and the mandated tech categories.
Who controls software purchasing
Purchasing authority sits at the corporate level. The FDD’s Item 1 lists Andy Wenlock as Chief Executive Officer and Mathew Horvath as both Chief Operating Officer and Secretary. No dedicated technology or procurement executive is named, which means the COO is the most probable decision-maker for operational software—POS, transaction processing, kitchen display systems, and digital menu boards. Damien Brassel, Director of Culinary, may influence back-of-house and food-safety tech. Vendors should prepare concise, operations-focused pitches that speak to a lean leadership team managing both company stores and franchisee compliance.
Mandated and current tech stack
The 2026 FDD mandates two technology categories: digital menu boards and transaction processing systems. No specific vendor names are attached to these mandates in the disclosure, which suggests the franchisor either uses an approved-supplier list not published in the FDD or retains the right to designate systems on a case-by-case basis. For a vendor selling POS, payment processing, or digital signage, this is a greenfield conversation: the mandate exists, but the incumbent is not locked in by name. The absence of a named POS vendor in particular is notable and worth probing in a discovery call.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Item 8 of the FDD contains no procurement extract, so the franchisor’s supply-chain model—whether designated supplier, approved supplier, or open market—is not publicly documented. Vendors should treat this as an unknown and ask directly about the process for becoming an approved technology supplier. The renewal structure provides a predictable trigger for tech evaluation: franchisees must give written notice 12 to 18 months before their term expires and must “repair, upgrade, and modernize the Restaurant in compliance with our then-current standards.” That modernization clause is the most likely catalyst for software replacement or add-on sales, especially as the first cohort of franchisees approaches the end of their initial 10-year term.
How to read the Fish & Chips FDD
The full 2026 Fish & Chips Franchise Disclosure Document is available below. Key sections for software vendors include Item 1 (executives), Item 11 (mandated technology), Item 8 (procurement, though empty here), and Item 17 (renewal conditions). Because the system is small and privately held—no parent company is on file—the FDD is the single best source of structured intelligence on how this franchisor buys and mandates technology. For a ranked target list of franchise systems matched to your software category, FranCloud can help.