Popeyes looks north and south as it announces next tranche of openings

The US fried chicken giant launched its first UK site in Stratford last year​​, and opened its first sit-down restaurant in the country in Chelmsford earlier this month with a second set to launch in Romford in July. 

Now it has confirmed a further six openings in Nottingham, Gateshead, Oxford, Reading, Brighton and Ealing, respectively, which will bring its total to nine UK sites.

It also has delivery kitchens across London.

Popeyes has previously said it is aiming to open 350 sites across the country over the next 10 years​​.

The brand has recently stepped up its expansion plans in the UK to meet the growing demand​​, with its Stratford site being its highest-performing location in the world.

“It’s such an exciting time for the brand, and we have even bigger plans in the works; we’re dedicating a lot of focus currently to our rollout of drive-throughs alongside our strong pipeline of sit-down restaurants,” says Tom Crowley, CEO at Popeyes UK.

“Accelerating our UK growth strategy in this way enables us to provide a much-needed jobs boost to the hospitality economy across both construction and hospitality roles.

“Across these six sites, we’re expecting to provide 600 employment opportunities, and we’re already eyeing our next raft of locations with announcements due imminently.”

The UK represents the 11th new market for Popeyes across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, where the chain has already opened hundreds of new sites as part of its global expansion.

This year, Popeyes celebrated 50 years since its first restaurant opened in New Orleans.