Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is a bona fide stalwart of the fast food industry, going toe to toe with rival McDonald’s by offering hefty chunks of protein-rich chicken breast fillets, wings, and legs coated in its one-of-kind breaded spice blend.
Few things feel as indulgent as a night in front of the telly with a bargain bucket in your lap – honestly, whoever came up with the idea of a ‘bucket’ of chicken didn’t get paid enough – and it seems that our appetites are hard to satisfy where the Colonel is concerned.
Demand remains so high that KFC has just announced plans to invest £1.5 billion into its UK and Ireland footprint, with the aim of opening another 500 restaurants and creating 7,000 jobs over the next 10 years.
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Much of that money will go into renovating and upgrading its existing locations, of which there are already over 1,000 in the UK alone with over 30,000 employees between them.
The remaining £466 million will be spent on opening new outlets, particularly in Ireland and the North West of England where it says demand is particularly high.
You can get in on some of that fried chicken war chest too if you happen to know somewhere the fast food giant can build a new restaurant, with £20,000 offered as a finder’s fee to landlords and property experts.
“We’ve been serving customers in the UK for 60 years now, but we’ve never seen such strong demand for freshly prepared, fried chicken as we’re seeing today,” said Rob Swain, general manager at KFC UK and Ireland.
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More details are available on the KFC website.
While KFC is the largest fried chicken brand in the UK, it’s got growing competition up and down the country. Considering research from Kantar says we Brits spent £2.4 billion on fried chicken year in the year to April 20th 2025, there’s certainly room in the coop.
Along with no end of independent chicken shops in major cities, with Morley's being synonymous with fried poultry in the capital, a number of brands have recently entered the fray from overseas.
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Wingstop is one, offering a wide array of different sauces inspired by world cuisine and the demand for spicy grub, with 57 franchises in the UK and plans to open 20 more.
Popeyes is another, with 65 UK restaurants. It more than doubled its UK footprint in 2024 with 33 new outlets.
More recently, Dave’s Hot Chicken opened its first UK restaurant in 2024 and has plans to open another 60 across the British Isles.
It’s certainly a great time to be a fried chicken fan.
Rachael Davis