KFC prepares for growth with £40M investment

29-Apr-2014 - Last updated on 30-Apr-2014 at 09:26 GMT

KFC to pump £40M into business over five years

Related tags Investment

Southern-fried chicken giant Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) will pump £21M into the opening of 32 new restaurants this year, creating 1,300 new jobs and setting the pace for five years of expansion.

The plans, part of a wider investment scheme to open 150 new restaurants and create 6,000 jobs in the UK and Ireland over the next five years, were announced on Monday (April 28) by md Martin Shuker.

A further £19M will be invested into the refurbishment and modernisation of 220 of the chain’s restaurants, as well as to explore plans to introduce a new range of lighter meal options.

Further £19M

A proportion of the £19M investment will also go into producing a new ‘Fast Track’ app to improve customer service.

Shuker, who has been md of KFC for 10 years, said the investments naturally followed nine consecutive years of sales growth and demonstrated the business's continued strength and commitment to grow.

“The reality is that we could absolutely keep growing at this rate for the next five years or longer because there’s demand for KFC in geographies where we are not yet present, so as long as we can make sure our offering is appealing to consumers, I think the ceiling [is] quite a long way away,” said Shuker.

This year KFC became the first retail business in the UK to offer an honours degree, which Shuker said also played a part in the company’s growth.