KFC to Turn 180 of its 230 Managed Stores into Franchised Shops

Colonel Sanders’ secret recipe might be closely guarded but the latest news from his restaurant chain certainly isn’t. Yum! Brands, the parent company that also owns Pizza Hut, has announced that it’s franchising over 180 of its 230 company-owned KFC restaurants in the UK. The deal worth a cool £300m is part of a bigger push to shift the fast-food franchise’s focus even more towards franchising. At the end of the transition, only 50 remaining KFC restaurants will be company-owned.

KFC has also announced they’re having a major reshuffle of their leadership team as part of bigger plans to expand into Europe. Martin Shuker, general manager of KFC’s UK and Ireland business, is taking a step back from running day to day businesses taking up to role of managing director of western Europe instead to focus on growing the business across the continent. Former chief financial officer Paula MacKenzie will take over as general manager for operations in the UK.

Shuker commented, “We have a clear strategy, incredible people and outstanding franchise partners, so are well placed to continue accelerating our growth and building our incredible culture over the coming years.”

Back in 2012, sister brand Pizza Hut announced that it would create 100 new franchised restaurants and last year the franchisor doubled down on this strategy by unveiling plans to invest £40m in creating an additional 200 franchise

stores by 2020.