Chick-Fil-A To Open Business In The UK In 2025

[RAMROD 90,570]

Chick-fil-A, the US fast-food chain, is planning to relaunch in the UK just a few years after closing its first UK pop-up store following protests by LGBT+ campaigners over its founding family’s support for Christian organisations opposed to gay rights. The Atlanta-based chain, which runs more than 2,800 restaurants across the US, announced on Thursday that it planned to open a new UK outlet in early 2025 and expand to five sites within the first two years, creating between 80 and 120 jobs per store.

Over the next decade, Chick-fil-A intends to invest $100mn in the UK. The fried chicken outlet launched its first UK restaurant in Reading, a commuter town near London, in 2019 but just eight days after the launch the shopping centre housing the store announced its lease would end after six months following a backlash from LGBT+ activists. LGBT+ campaigners took issue with the founding Cathy family’s historically anti-gay stance.

The store’s Christian owners previously donated to Exodus International, an organisation advocating gay “conversion therapy”, before it closed in 2013 and issued an apology to the gay community for “years of undue judgment”. The Cathy family also gave money through its charitable foundation to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which opposed same-sex marriage. The restaurant was founded by Samuel Truett Cathy in 1946, who “based his business on biblical principles”, according to the company’s website. In 2012, the founder’s son Dan Cathy, who was chief executive at the time and now serves as chair, told the media he was “guilty as charged” when asked about his support for traditional family values, adding that he believed in “the biblical definition of the family unit”. Dan’s son Andrew has been chief executive since 2021. In its first foray into the UK since 2019, Chick-fil-A is hoping to draw a line under the episode, having overhauled its philanthropic policy in 2019 to focus its giving on education, homelessness and hunger, according to people close to the company.

The UK expansion is part of a larger $1bn plan to introduce Chick-fil-A’s signature fried chicken sandwich to five markets outside North America by 2030. The chain will face tough competition from other fried chicken outlets in the UK — including KFC, which operates more than 1,000 stores nationwide, and Popeyes, which debuted in London in 2021 and plans to expand to 350 UK stores in the long term. Peter Backman, an independent food sector analyst, said Chick-fil-A may struggle to win around UK consumers because of its evangelical Christian stance. “Successful restaurants, being very personal businesses, try to align their culture as much as possible with that of the customers they serve,” said Backman.

Chick-fil-A does not open on Sundays in the US because of religious reasons. A person close to the company confirmed the same policy would apply in the UK. Chick-fil-A is hoping to attract UK franchise partners with what it bills as a “unique” owner-operator model, which requires just $10,000 of investment from the franchisee. Four in every five franchisees will operate just one site, Chick-fil-A added.

 

https://www.chick-fil-a.com/stories/news/chick-fil-a-to-launch-in-the-uk#:~:text=LONDON (September 14%2C 2023),the UK in early 2025.

 

https://www.ft.com/content/295033d3-7b4e-408c-b831-0d456b152bef

[weed 62,425]

hm.. I hope they flop again. "Guilty as charged" tomato tomato tomato

[Red 84,288]

Counting on society's goldfish memory it seems

[bpmMonkey 2,283]

[Sexxx 5,357]

Not even that good chicken

[Pennywise 32,165]

well... the TERF Island would love them I guess 

[Karl 2,450]

We have popeye's now we don't need this, closed on Sundays is not a thing in the UK we are mostly secular 

[Melancholia 9,525]

even aside from the controversy i have no idea how they feel this is a profitable idea. there's no gap in the market that chick-fil-a fills over here.

[IWantYourLove 589]

The religious stance, homophobic or not, will not go down well here, at least in my city. People I know have already called businesses closing on Sundays in a modern world ‘laughable’. Not saying they won’t succeed, because they might, I just know people here will be talking about how much they hate that the business is so religion-focused with its ‘activism’. Very few people care for Christianity here, and even the people I know that are Christian can’t stand when it’s made the only personality of a business OR a person. Plus, we really don’t need another fried chicken place, there are too many to count, people will try it then go back to their usual places.

[LilMissThang 240]

Chick-fil-A is so good tho sorry not sorry, I’m glad they’re not supporting those organizations any longer and they’re already super successful so boycotting stores is only hurting the workers and franchise owners at those stores. I’m gay and not religious but I’m not going to boycott a store because they’re closed on Sundays, it’s nice for the workers to always have a day of rest on the weekends regardless if you’re religious or not. Plus it’s way better than Popeyes imo.

Edited September 15 by LilMissThang

[BUtterfield 8 35,763]

Never ate from there 

how does it compare to other fast food restaurants?

[Borisapillar 5,983]

29 minutes ago, BUtterfield 8 said:

Never ate from there 

how does it compare to other fast food restaurants?

Unfortunately it’s amazing

[shelby loved 347]

43 minutes ago, LilMissThang said:

Chick-fil-A is so good tho sorry not sorry, I’m glad they’re not supporting those organizations any longer and they’re already super successful so boycotting stores is only hurting the workers and franchise owners at those stores. I’m gay and not religious but I’m not going to boycott a store because they’re closed on Sundays, it’s nice for the workers to always have a day of rest on the weekends regardless if you’re religious or not. Plus it’s way better than Popeyes imo.

AGREED. It's top-tier fast food and the customer service at their locations is above and beyond. I'm not super religious at all but I appreciate how they use religion as a way to treat their employees well and to do charity.

[Quentin 3,020]

I heard they will cook with Gaga's dead chickens.

[NCgaga 3,957]

Ignorant chicken is delicious. It’s honestly so good. They have the best fries.