KFC has announced plans to create 7,000 new jobs across the UK and Ireland as rival fast food chicken chains such as Wingstop threaten to take a bigger bite of the market.
The fried chicken firm is investing nearly £1.5bn over five years, part of which will be spent on new restaurants in "key locations" such as Ireland and north west England, where it opened its first-ever British restaurant 60 years ago in Preston.
Consumers in the UK and Ireland spend billions of pounds in fried chicken chains every year.
KFC revealed its plan as competitors expand in Britain and Ireland, including Popeyes, famed for catering singer Beyoncé and rapper Jay-Z's wedding in 2009.
It said it will plough nearly £500m into 500 new sites as well as upgrading existing shops. It currently has more than 1,000 restaurants across the UK and Ireland, the majority of which are operated by franchisees.
The fast-food chain said the 7,000 new jobs it expects to create in the UK and Ireland will include servers, kitchen-based roles and managers.
It will invest in its supply chain to "strengthen long-standing relationships" such as with Pilgrim's Europe, which is based in Warwick, and McCormick in Buckinghamshire which makes the fast-food firm's gravy, the company added.
KFC is by far the largest fried chicken chain in Britain. But in recent years, smaller competitors have been growing including America's Wingstop which, in December last year, sold its UK arm to US private equity firm Sixth Street for £400m.
Wingstop currently has around 57 franchised sites in the UK and plans to open another 20.
Meanwhile, Popeyes UK has 65 restaurants across the UK and Ireland after a big expansion last year when it opened 33 shops.
According to market research firm Kantar, Britons spent about £2.4bn on fried chicken from fast food shops in the year to 20 April.
Dave's Hot Chicken – the US brand which counts rapper Drake and actor Samuel L Jackson among its backers – opened its first restaurant in Britain last year, located in London, and plans to launch a further 60 shops in the UK and Ireland.
