Burger King to open more than 60 new UK restaurants

Burger King has revealed plans to open more than 60 new restaurants across the UK over the next two years.

It came as the fast-food chain, which currently runs 553 UK restaurants, revealed higher sales but a slump in profits for the past year.

Alasdair Murdoch, chief executive of Burger King UK, said the business “delivered good growth during the year, despite industry-wide headwinds” amid significant inflation for both energy and food.

The business, which has been owned by private equity firm Bridgepoint since 2017, said its continued expansion helped to drive a 39% jump in revenues to £294.5 million in 2022.

It came as the business opened 32 new restaurants and acquired 74 from largest franchise partner Karali Group.

Burger King UK directly owns 279 restaurants, with its remaining sites run as franchises.

The hospitality business said higher cost inflation caused underlying pre-tax earnings to fall to £15.2 million from £33.1 million a year earlier, despite the increase in sales.

Mr Murdoch said: “I am pleased to announce a resilient full year performance and strong strategic progress in 2022 as we announce ambitious plans to open 60 new restaurants over the next two years.

“Alongside new restaurant openings and the acquisition of our largest franchise partner, Karali Group, we continued our strategic focus on growing digital sales including home delivery and the introduction of our loyalty scheme on the Burger King app.

“We also continued to invest in our customer proposition – our remodelling programme is well underway with 42 restaurants being upgraded during 2022 and 2023, and we are progressing our menu innovation to cater to all preferences.

“Looking ahead we see significant opportunity for further growth and are encouraged by the strong pipeline of new openings, supported by additional funding from Bridgepoint.”