Haidilao heads to Birmingham

The 8,073sq ft restaurant will join Brown’s and Wagamama in the Bullring’s St Martin’s Square, and is expected to launch in early 2021.

The brand opened its first European restaurant at the Trocadero in Piccadilly Circus in 2018​​​ and opened a site at The O2 a year or so later.​​​

The first Haidilao restaurant opened in Sichuan province, China in 1994. The group now operates over 750 restaurants globally in China, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, the US, Canada, and Australia.

Following an IPO in 2018, the chain has nearly doubled its global estate.

“As the UK’s second city, and one with a large multi-cultural population, Birmingham is the ideal location for the first restaurant outside of London," says a Haidilao spokesperson. "In our national expansion plans, the Bullring provides us with the high footfall, strong reputation and central position that we seek.”

“Bullring and Grand Central remains one of the nation’s leading retail and leisure destinations, and the fact that a global brand like Haidilao has chosen the centre for its first restaurant outside of London really demonstrates that," says Iain Mitchell, the UK commercial director at developer Hammerson.

"Restaurants and bars are having a really tough time at the moment, but today’s announcement shows that with the right brand in the right location, there is still scope for growth.”

The Bullring is one of three destinations that comprise the Bullring Estate, with Grand Central and Link Street.

Hammerson recently invested £2 million in enhancements to Grand Central’s New Street Mall, the key link to New Street and Stephenson Place.

The works created more light, and include new seating and an enhanced experience for visitors.