Boparan Restaurant Group unveil plan to accelerate the rolling out of popular brand in England.
American fast-food brand Slim Chickens is to open five new restaurants in the south-west. First up is Exeter, where the doors will open early in the New Year, and become the company’s 10th UK outlet. This marks a rapid expansion for the Slim Chickens’ brand which only crossed the Atlantic earlier this year.
The first branch was opened at Bluewater Shopping Centre, Kent in February, with the ninth being Manchester’s Trafford Centre during autumn. There are also three in London. News of Slim Chickens’ sudden advance into south-west England was announced by the Boparan Restaurant Group (BRG) which owns the UK rights to the franchise. BRG, who run six other brands in the UK, has signed a deal with KK Restaurants, a well-known business in the south-west who have a proven track record for rolling out hospitality brands in the region.
Two of KK‘s well-known connections include Pizza Hut Delivery and Costa Coffee, and they will now turn their attention to Slim Chickens, with Exeter the first of five planned openings during 2021. Judd Williams, BRG‘s franchise director, said: “We are pleased to have secured a franchise partner as experienced as KK Restaurants. This supports our ambitious growth plan to roll-out the Slim Chickens brand across the UK.”
And Simon Wright, of KK Restaurants, added: “Slim Chickens is a scalable brand with bags of potential and we are delighted to be partnering with BRG to bring better chicken to customers in the south-west.” This is the second franchise agreement for Slim Chickens. The first was signed with JRK Restaurants in August, to open multiple outlets on the south coast.
The Slim Chickens story began in Arkansas on February 17th, 2003, when the first branch was unveiled in Fayetteville. Founders Tom Gordon and Greg Smart wasted no time in accelerating the brand across the United States where there are now more than one hundred outlets, with store No 100 also being launched in Arkansas (Little Rock) in December of last year. As for BRG, their six other brands are Giraffe, Giraffe Stop, Ed’s Shakes & Waffles, Ed’s Easy Diner, Wondertree and Fishworks.
