As traditional fast-food outlets fall out of fashion, some owners are trying to find new markets in wholesale, haute cuisine and karaoke - and some now vote Ukip.

The slightly down-at-heel Hong Kong on Clay Lane is the oldest surviving Chinese restaurant in Coventry. It opened in 1969. Where better for a conversation about the current state of the takeaway in the UK? It's an ideal venue for a SWOT analysis of the spring roll and special chop suey.

Coventry has endured a tough few decades and the green shoots of post-crash recovery are thin on the ground. Stephen Chung, the Hong Kong's proprietor, is hardly brimful of optimism.

Since 2008 small, independent takeaways' sales have dropped from £4.4bn to less than £3.4bn. Low-income males are Chung's target market and their finances were the hardest hit by the recession.