Chick-fil-A to make second attempt at UK launch after previous gay rights backlash

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Chick-fil-A, the US fast-food chain, is planning to relaunch in the UK just a few years after closing its first UK pop-up store following protests by LGBT campaigners over its founding family’s support for Christian organisations opposed to gay rights.

The Atlanta-based chain, which runs more than 2,800 restaurants across the US, announced on Thursday that it planned to launch a new UK outlet in early 2025 and expand to five sites within the first two years, creating between 80 and 120 jobs per store.

Over the next decade, Chick-fil-A intends to invest $100mn in the UK. The fried chicken outlet launched its first UK restaurant in Reading, a commuter town near London, in 2019 but just eight days after the launch the shopping centre housing the store announced its lease would end after six months following a backlash from LGBT activists.

LGBT campaigners took issue with the founding Cathy family’s historically anti-gay stance. The store’s Christian owners previously donated to Exodus International, an organisation advocating gay “conversion therapy”, before it closed in 2013 and issued an apology to the gay community for “years of undue judgment”.

The Cathy family also gave money through its charitable foundation to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which opposed same-sex marriage. The restaurant was founded by Samuel Truett Cathy in 1946, who “based his business on biblical principles”, according to the company’s website.

In 2012, the founder’s son Dan Cathy, who was chief executive at the time and now serves as chair, told the media he was “guilty as charged” when asked about his support for traditional family values, adding that he believed in “the biblical definition of the family unit”. Dan’s son Andrew has been chief executive since 2021.

In its first foray into the UK since 2019, Chick-fil-A is hoping to draw a line under the episode, having overhauled its philanthropic policy in 2019 to focus its giving on education, homelessness and hunger, according to people close to the company. “From our earliest days, we’ve worked to positively influence the places we call home and this will be the same for our stores in the UK,” said Joanna Symonds, Chick-fil-A’s head of UK operations.

The UK expansion is part of a larger $1bn plan to introduce Chick-fil-A’s signature fried chicken sandwich to five markets outside North America by 2030. The chain will face tough competition from other fried chicken outlets in the UK — including KFC, which operates more than 1,000 stores nationwide, and Popeyes, which debuted in London in 2021 and plans to expand to 350 UK stores in the long term.

Peter Backman, an independent food sector analyst, said Chick-fil-A may struggle to win around UK consumers because of its evangelical Christian stance. “Successful restaurants, being very personal businesses, try to align their culture as much as possible with that of the customers they serve,” said Backman.

“That is obviously a challenge when the corporate culture is very strong in areas where the market isn’t,” he added. “Chick-fil-A with its very strong religious, Christian ethos, needs to bear in mind that less than half the British population identifies as Christian.”

Chick-fil-A does not open on Sundays in the US because of religious reasons. A person close to the company confirmed the same policy would apply in the UK.

Chick-fil-A is hoping to attract UK franchise partners with what it bills as a “unique” owner-operator model, which requires just $10,000 of investment from the franchisee. Four in every five franchisees will operate just one site, Chick-fil-A added.

Anita Costello, Chick-fil-A’s chief international officer, said the franchise model would bring “one of a kind access to entrepreneurial opportunities”. “We are excited our restaurants will bring new jobs and opportunities throughout the UK,” she added.