Popeyes to open first travel hub location as it ramps up expansion
The fast- growing chicken QSR brand has plans for more than 30 new openings in the next 12 months, taking its total number of restaurants to more 60 by December 2024.
New restaurants in Ilford and Hammersmith will be opening this week, on the 22 and 29 January respectively. They will be followed by new restaurants in locations including Bishop Auckland, Exeter, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Nottingham, Swansea, and Birmingham
The Birmingham location, which will be a delivery kitchen, is the first site in Birmingham for Popeyes, with more sites to follow as expansion continues.
Popeyes is also set to roll out its breakfast menu nationwide next month following a successful trial last year. Menu items include a bacon roll, big breakfast roll, Cajun hash browns, sausage, egg and cheese muffin, cinnamon sugar biscuit, and a big Cajun roll.
“We opened our first store in November 2021, to huge hype and acclaim, and customer appetite shows no sign of slowing down. To date, we’ve opened 38 locations up and down the country, and converted legions of fried chicken fans to Popeyes. We’re excited to be giving even more people their first taste of New Orleans as we double our estate in 2024,” says chief development officer Tom Byng.
“We’re particularly proud of our geographical spread of expansion, including our first ever travel hub restaurant in Waterloo Station, which will be fuelling hungry travellers with great food and a dose of the famous New Orleans spirit.”
Popeyes entered the UK in November 2021 and currently has 36 locations, including five drive-thrus, and seven delivery kitchens across the UK. It now employs over 2,300 people in the UK and, through the new openings, and aims to generate a further 2,000 new jobs during 2024.
Last year it opened its first drive-thru restaurant at Parkgate Shopping Centre in Rotherham.
Earlier this month, TDR Capital took a controlling stake of the UK business.
