Popeyes UK to open nearly one restaurant a week in 2025

Popeyes UK has announced ambitious plans to open nearly one site a week over the course of 2025 in a bid to double its nationwide footprint.

The US fried chicken brand launched its debut London site in November 2021 and now operates 65 restaurants across the UK and Ireland, having launched 33 sites in 2024.

Chief executive Tom Crowley has outlined plans to launch a further 45 restaurants over the course of the year and increase the chain’s presence in major cities such as Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool and London.

He also revealed Popeyes’ ambitions to become “one of the largest QSR operators in the UK market”, with a medium-term target of more than 350 sites.

This year’s expansion drive is expected to create roughly 2,500 new jobs across the UK as the business targets sales of more than £200m.

Popeyes is currently experimenting with multiple formats, ranging from eat-in to drive-through restaurants.

It comes after the chicken chain reported a 100% increase in total sales over the course of 2024, amounting to more than £118m – the equivalent of one sandwich being sold every three seconds.

Crowley 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.”

He added: “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 operators in the UK market.” 

Popeyes was founded in New Orleans in 1972 and now operates more than 4,000 restaurants globally.

Private equity firm TDR Capital took a majority stake in Popeyes UK in January 2024 to support its accelerated nationwide roll-out.