Wingstop and Popeyes serve up major UK expansion plans
Fast-growing chains Wingstop and Popeyes have each announced major plans to expand further across the UK and create thousands of jobs.
Popeyes has outlined proposals to almost double its footprint in the UK with the opening of more than 45 restaurants.
The move will increase its presence in the likes of Birmingham, Leeds and Bristol as well as expanding further in Manchester, Liverpool, London and Scotland.
Popeyes said it expects to create around 2,500 jobs and it will target sales of more than £200m in 2025.
In October 2024, accounts released for Popeye’s 2023 financial year revealed its revenue had increased from £15m to £58.1m.
The company has now reported that its sales surged to more than £118m in 2024 as it opened 33 new locations.
Tom Crowley, chief executive of Popeyes UK, said: “2025 is set to be another incredibly exciting year for Popeyes UK®, building on the significant successes our team generated in 2024 as we ended the year with an annual sales run rate of £150m.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the whole Popeyes team for their continued hard work and dedication throughout what was an incredibly busy year which saw us become the UK’s fastest growing QSR brand.
“Our ambitious roll-out strategy – which will see us open, on average, close to one new site per week in the coming 12 months – will mean that we can bring joy to even more customers across the country, from breakfast through to late night.
“At the same time, we are looking forward to welcoming around 2,500 new team members in the year ahead to support our expansion plans, all the while continuing our clear focus on exciting menu and technology innovation.
“Underpinned by the proven global appeal of the Popeyes brand and our highly acclaimed customer proposition, the growth potential of the business is significant, and we have a medium-term target to scale to more than 350 sites, establishing Popeyes UK as one of the largest QSR [quick service restaurant] operators in the UK market.”
Wingstop and Popeyes outline ambitious plans
At the same time, the UK franchise of chicken chain Wingstop has announced plans to open at least 20 new sites in the UK this year, creating hundreds of jobs.
The plans come a month after Wingstop’s UK arm was taken over by a US private equity firm, for more than £400m.
Wingstop UK said that at least 10 new locations will open in the first half of the year.
These will include dine-in restaurants in Swansea, Newcastle, Lakeside shopping centre in Essex, Streatham in south London and Cardigan Fields in Leeds. The brand will also open a further delivery kitchen in Brighton.
Wingstop currently operates 57 sites across the UK, employing more than 2,500 people, following a rapid expansion programme.
The business opened 18 new locations last year, including its largest site, at Westfield Stratford in east London.
Chris Sherriff, chief executive at Wingstop UK, said: “2024 has been a landmark year for Wingstop UK, marked by record site openings, a new flagship location and industry accolades.
“This year we are poised for even greater growth, with plans to expand into new regions and create hundreds of jobs.
“Thank you to the brilliant work of all our employees, who drive us to keep growing, whilst providing a personalised and authentic experience to wing-lovers up and down the country.
“There is huge momentum and we can’t wait to bring our flavours to more areas across the UK.”
In December, Morning Wire reported that Wingstop had more than doubled its sales as it continued its UK expansion, created hundreds of jobs and returned to profit.
The restaurant chain, which is known for its buffalo wings, reported a turnover of £84.6m for the 12 months to 31 March, 2024, documents filed with Companies House showed.
The new total came after Wingstop posted a turnover of £38.1m for the prior year.
The results also showed the business recovered from a pre-tax loss of £2m to make a £3.5m pre-tax profit.