Slim Chickens to expand across the south coast

18-Feb-2020 - Last updated on 18-Feb-2020 at 10:06 GMT

Boparan Restaurant Group (BRG) is to expand the Slim Chickens brand across the south coast after signing its first UK franchise partner.

The company has teamed up with JRK Restaurants and is looking to open five fried chicken restaurants over the next four years.

JRK’s chairman Karim Kassam is also listed on Companies House as a director of Ziz Hospitality, which bought the De Vere Horwood Estate Hotel in Milton Keynes for £15.5m last year.

“We already have a site in mind for the opening of the first franchised Slim Chickens outlet and expect to make an announcement within the next couple of weeks,” says Kassam.

BRG has opened seven Slim Chickens restaurants in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff and Kent since signing a master franchise agreement for the UK and Ireland in 2018.

In January the company announced it was looking to enter talks with potential partners to begin its “very ambitious” growth plans for the brand.

Slim Chickens was founded in Arkansas in 2003 and trades from over 80 US restaurants.