US chicken chain to open first UK drive-through in Wales

Nation.Cymru staff/agencies

A popular fried chicken chain will open its first UK drive-through in Wales as part of expansion plans expected to create up to 1,000 jobs nationwide.

Slim Chickens will launch the outlet at Broughton Shopping Park on October 6, with the site serving as a blueprint for further openings across the UK.

Boparan Restaurant Group, which holds the brand’s master franchise for the UK and Europe, plans to open between 15 and 20 restaurants across the UK next year, most of them drive-throughs.

The group expects the expansion to create between 800 and 1,000 jobs across the UK, with each site employing up to 50 people.

Rich Pigott, managing director of Boparan Restaurants, told the Press Association: “We’ve got ambitious plans for the drive-through format, and Broughton gives us the opportunity to take everything people love about Slim Chickens… and bring it to guests in a completely new way.”

He said Broughton was “only the beginning for Slim Chickens drive-throughs in the UK”.

The planned openings would mark an acceleration after eight launches in 2026, which have taken the chain’s UK estate to more than 80 restaurants.

Mr Pigott said the drive-throughs would focus on locations such as retail parks, adding to the brand’s existing outlets on high streets and in shopping centres.

Slim Chickens was founded in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and opened its first UK restaurant in 2018. Much of its US business operates through drive-throughs.

“It’s convenient for people to go to a drive-through and take food home,” Mr Pigott said.

However, he said the hospitality market remained competitive as consumers faced pressure from rising energy and fuel costs.

“People will reduce their spending habits to reduce their bills,” he said. “But they will still want to go out.

“People might cut back from going to a restaurant two or three times a week to once a week, so you’ve got to be the best in the market to make sure people come to you.”

Boparan Restaurant Group, which also runs Carluccio’s, Giraffe and Gourmet Burger Kitchen, is planning further European expansion through company-owned restaurants and franchise partnerships.

Tom Patrick, the group’s marketing director, said the UK drive-through launch would also use its new app and AI technology.

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