Five Guys to open in Bluewater Shopping Centre
American burger chain Five Guys is to open in Bluewater Shopping Centre, Kent, this spring.
Located on the lower level of the shopping centre's dining village, it will serve a menu of burgers, sandwiches, "dogs", fries and classic sides.
Five Guys has praised Bluewater for providing a good opportunity to take the concept to a new place, without losing the London-like "buzz and atmosphere".
Neville Mailing, head of property at Five Guys, said: "Bluewater was on our list of locations from day one. It gives us the buzz and atmosphere of London in a location that provides access to a unique catchment. Bluewater has also been a highly successful location for other new brands that have chosen it to launch outside of London, so we are in confident company."
Shelley Sandzer acted for Bluewater in the deal, while Five Guys acted for itself.
The chain is one of 37 brands to have committed to Bluewater in the past 12 months, with a further 25 having updated their store designs in 2013.
Five Guys was started by the Murrell family in Washington DC in 1986, and in the past 28 years has grown to over 1,000 locations in the USA.
Having arrived in the UK in July 2013, it now has two sites in London - the original store in Covent Garden and another in Islington â€' plus the Reading outlet.
The brand is set to open three new sites this year, in Kingston-upon-Thames and Guildford as well as Bluewater.
It became extremely popular last year amid the "burger" craze that swept London, which also included competitors such as Byron Burger, BGR.CO., Shake Shack and Patty & Bun.
