We're looking for the best chippy in County Durham and we need your help

One of The Northern Echo's most popular reader competitions of last year is returning for 2025.
The Northern Echo's Best Chippy award launches again today and we're looking for help from our readers to find out who takes the crown in Darlington and County Durham.
Last year, we were inundated with voting slips from across the region as fans were desperate to share their love for their favourite takeaway treat.
Highly popular Cockerton Fisheries, on Woodland Road, clinched the title in 2024, with owner Sam Todd saying she was 'delighted' at the news.
The chippy, which has been in Sam's family for more than 30 years, is a staple in Cockerton Village with the restaurant often going 'above and beyond' for their customers.
"It's all down to hard work and looking after our customers. And the staff are amazing. We go out of our way for our customers.
"We have lots of regulars and have a delivery service for elderly people. Since Covid, I have carried on with that. On a Saturday, I have 20 to 30 people that I deliver to and take the food into their house - they just love it.
"It's all about looking after and doing that extra for our customers - as well as having the best fish and chips."
Nominations open today (May 19), with readers encouraged to vote for their favourite online.
Once nominations close, votes will be counted, and a shortlist of the top ten will be released.
We'll then release features on each of the nominees, alongside voting slips where you can vote for your favourite.
Once the votes have been totted up, we'll reveal the winner and a special feature will be published online and in print.
You can submit your nominations here, or find the QR code in the paper.
Nominations close Sunday, May 25.

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We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at SAM Engineering & Equipment (M) Berhad as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 10%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.084. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business. View our latest analysis for SAM Engineering & Equipment (M) Berhad Strength Debt is not viewed as a risk. Weakness Earnings declined over the past year. Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Machinery market. Expensive based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value. Opportunity Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the Malaysian market. Threat Revenue is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year. Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Instead the best use for a DCF model is to test certain assumptions and theories to see if they would lead to the company being undervalued or overvalued. For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. Why is the intrinsic value lower than the current share price? For SAM Engineering & Equipment (M) Berhad, we've compiled three relevant aspects you should explore: Financial Health: Does SAM have a healthy balance sheet? Take a look at our free balance sheet analysis with six simple checks on key factors like leverage and risk. Future Earnings: How does SAM's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered! PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Malaysian stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.