Chick-fil-A expands to the UK with 5 new locations

Chick-fil-A recently announced plans to take its brand of tangy chicken sandwiches and popular milkshakes across the pond by opening five new restaurant locations in England and Northern Ireland.

As the third-largest fast-food restaurant in the United States, Chick-fil-A announced late last month that it’s adding to its over 3,000 restaurants across the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada by opening locations in London, Liverpool, Leeds and Belfast. 

Just like owner-operators at its established locations in North America and the Caribbean, the U.K. locations will be owned by locals familiar with the communities they serve and will independently operate their restaurants.    

To celebrate each new location, Chick-fil-A said it would donate £25,000 ($32,600) to a local nonprofit organization in each city.

In addition, each new restaurant can participate in the Chick-fil-A Shared Table program that enables locations to deliver excess food to local shelters, food banks and nonprofits, such as soup kitchens. According to Chick-fil-A, last year more than 7 million meals were provided throughout North America through its food program.

“We’ve always cared about the impact of our restaurants on the local communities that we serve, and we strive to positively impact areas throughout the U.K.," said Joanna Symonds, head of U.K. operations. “Caring for people while delivering great food is at the heart of our brand, and we encourage our local owner-operators to partner with organizations that support their local communities.” 

Through its U.K. expansion, Chick-fil-A expects to create 400 new jobs. Its restaurants will also serve chicken that solely comes from  U.K. sources and use eggs labeled free range.                                    

“Serving communities is at the heart of everything we do, and we look forward to bringing Chick-fil-A’s delicious food and signature hospitality to Belfast, Leeds, Liverpool and London, and continuing our long-term investment in the U.K.,” said Anita Costello, chief international officer at Chick-fil-A. The corporation said it plans to invest $100 million in the U.K. over the next 10 years.

Earlier this month, Chick-fil-A announced that its owner-operators in North Carolina, Georgia and Florida and support center staff from Atlanta have been serving thousands of meals to residents displaced by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Weeks ago, Chick-fil-A announced that it has brought back its honey pepper pimento chicken sandwich and created a new spicy honey pepper pimento chicken sandwich in conjunction with an accompanying drink, the banana pudding milkshake that has made a comeback after being off the menu for 13 years.