KFC expansion to generate 1,600 jobs

Fried chicken restaurant chain KFC will create 1,600 jobs this year by opening more than 40 restaurants across Ireland and Britain.

The US-owned firm plans to spend £40m (€47m) on the expansion drive, while it will also spend another £40m on a makeover of 160 existing eateries to “create a more modern, welcoming environment for customers”.

This year’s openings will boost the chain’s total number of Irish and British restaurants to nearly 900.

KFC, which employs around 24,000 people, has added at least 30 new restaurants in Britain each year and said it has seen seven years of same-store sales growth in a row.

The group also revealed it is trialling a click and collect iPhone app.

KFC UK, a subsidiary of Pizza Hut parent Yum! Brands, opened its first British store in 1965 in Preston, Lancashire. The brand was founded in America by Colonel Harland Sanders in the 1950s.