Twenty years ago, Wendy’s first attempted to break into the UK’s market to rival McDonald's and Burger King, but to no avail. They left the market in 2001 to focus on their domestic North American market. But now they’re back with a vengeance.
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The firm is looking to open 400 restaurants across the country, and they hope to create at least 12,000 new job opportunities in the next couple of years. Furthermore, they have decided to opt out of using the heavily criticised zero-hours contracts for their employees.
Expansion into Europe
Their launch in the UK is just the beginning of their expansion plans. After this, they want to conquer Europe as well. They divulged their intentions in a statement saying:
The UK launch will spearhead a European-wide expansion as Wendy's looks to build on strong growth on the other side of the Atlantic, where the brand last year dethroned Burger King to become the No 2 player in the US hamburger market.
Although the firm wants to rival established chains like McDonald's and Burger King, they will remain a relatively small fast food joint given that McDonald's has over 1,300 outlets in the UK. Due to the current circumstances, their expansion will be also slower than anticipated, but they hope that at least their quality and service will beat out the competitors.
First Wendy’s restaurant
The first joint is set to open next month in Reading, and the subsequent restaurants will be in Stratford and Oxford.
For now, most of the menu still remains a mystery but the firm has confirmed that one of their most popular items, Dave’s Burger, will be available to the Brits. Similar to every international food chain, they are planning to customise their menu according to the market, and they will also be adding more vegetarian options.
