Service station Applegreen has announced it will open two Chick-fil-A restaurants at locations in Northern Ireland in the coming months.
The first of the two restaurants will open in Applegreen’s Lisburn South location this month, and the second will open at Applegreen Templepatrick in March.
The company said the new Chick-Fil-A partnership will create 70 new jobs, bringing Applegreen’s overall employment numbers in Northern Ireland to 351.
Chick-fil-A is a major fast food brand in North America, where they have over 3,000 restaurants. It describes itself as the “third-largest quick service restaurant company by sales volume in the US”.
Applegreen has partnered with the fried chicken company before in the US, where it has 14 Chick-fil-As at their US service stations.
The new Chick-fil-A restaurants will not open on Sundays, following the policy adopted across their locations. The company said this measure is to give employees a day off.
Separately to the service stations, Belfast is among the four UK cities the company wishes to launch restaurants in over the next two years.
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Chick-fil-A is trying to expand into the UK market, having encountered issues previously related to its owner’s beliefs.
The Cathy family have made donations to conservative groups with anti-LGBT views in the past, which led to protests against a pop-up store in Reading in 2019.
Chick-fil-A characterises its owners’ beliefs as conservative Christian rather than anti-LGBT.
The Belfast Telegraph understands that Applegreen is “confident” that its partnership with Chick-fil-A will not harm the rights of any of their staff, including LGBT employees.
Caroline Cherington, regional operations director for Applegreen, Northern Ireland said: “We are delighted to be bringing Chick-fil-A to Northern Ireland with this new partnership agreement.
“Having successfully operated Chick-fil-A restaurants in the US for several years, we know how much customers love their high-quality food, and we’re excited to introduce this brand to a new audience.
“Our focus is on delighting our customers on the road with exceptional hospitality and the brands they love, with the aim of delivering the best experience to customers on the move.”
Applegreen has five locations in Northern Ireland, and over 590 sites across Ireland, the UK and the US, with 17,000 employees.