Q&A: Does Southern Fried Chicken Franchise in the UK?

If you’re passionate about the delicious goodness that is southern fried chicken, and you’re interested in running your own business in the UK’s growing fried chicken sub-sector of food service, then why not invest with one of the most-recognised and best-loved brands out there? Read on, and discover everything you need to know about a potential franchise investment with Southern Fried Chicken (often stylised as SFC).

KFC’s southern cousin is an incredible investment option in the food service space, and if you’re interested in running your own fast food business, starting a Southern Fried Chicken franchise is a great way to go about it. Fast food restaurants and takeaways occupy a huge market size of £19 billion in the UK [IBISWorld], and your branch of SFC could become a thriving part of that massive, demand-heavy market.

Does Southern Fried Chicken franchise in the UK? 

If SFC fried chicken is calling your name, you’ll be thrilled to learn that yes, Southern Fried Chicken does franchise in the UK. From its Reading HQ, the fried chicken franchise manages 93 locations across 15 different countries. As a franchisee, you could help this brand bring its number of locations into the triple figures, investing at one of four levels: Express/Kiosk, Food Court, Restaurant or Drive Thru.

The history of the Southern Fried Chicken business

Those interested in opening their own Southern Fried Chicken store will be fascinated to learn about the brand’s interesting history. It all began with a man named Arthur, born in London’s East End back in 1935. Arthur was the youngest of three brothers and two sisters, and for the first few years of his life he would sleep in a cardboard box at the end of his parents’ bed. Still, even when he was young, Arthur had big dreams.

According to SFC, Arthur’s inspiration for the brand came in two parts during a holiday to America. In Greenville, Carolina, he was served fried chicken, “a dish he had never experienced before and fell in love with at first bite”. He got the recipe before continuing his trip around the southern states, and two days later in Montgomery, Alabama, he was taken on a riverboat cruise.

In the words of Southern Fried Chicken, “The image of a Mississippi steamboat combined with the taste of fried chicken started an idea in Arthur’s head, one which was soon to be realised as the now world-renowned Southern Fried Chicken brand.” A brand that you could become a part of via a franchise investment in 2022!

Start a franchise in the fast food industry with an SFC franchise 

If everything you’ve learned so far about Southern Fried Chicken has left you increasingly keen to invest, keep reading. The three questions asked and answered below will equip you with all the knowledge you need in order to make a fully informed franchise investment with Southern Fried Chicken...

1. How do you go about launching your own SFC store? 

You can visit the Southern Fried Chicken website directly to find out more about franchising with the brand, and here you’ll also find the appropriate contact details via which to register your interest. Though the franchise doesn’t list any specific skills or types of experience that would be preferable, a franchisee in the fast food sector will generally benefit from a lot of interest in the brand they’re working with, strong customer service skills and commercial awareness, strong communication and leadership skills.

2. How much do you need to invest?

The cost of starting a quick-service restaurant (QSR) franchise with SFC will depend on the level that you choose to invest at. As briefly mentioned earlier, there are four different types of Southern Fried Chicken location that you can open, and each one comes with its own distinct price tag:

• Express/Kiosk - £50,000 to £80,000
• Food Court - £150,000 to £180,000
• Restaurant - £175,000 to £180,000
• Drive Thru - £280,000 to £300,000

To contextualise the cost of this opportunity, the average cost of a franchise investment was £42,200 in 2018 [British Franchise Association], but this figure accounts for many investment options that are much cheaper than a restaurant to get up and running. Restaurant franchise investments are always on the more expensive side. Here are a few examples from the wider restaurant sector, to give you a better idea:

• Rooster Shack - To become a Rooster Shack franchisee, you’ll need to make a minimum initial investment of £120,000, with franchise fees of £17,500 and a total investment cost of £185,000. 
• Street Greek - To become a Street Greek franchisee, you’ll need to make a minimum initial investment of £120,000, with franchise fees of £15,000 and a total investment cost of £200,000. 
• Pieminister - To become a Pieminister franchisee, you’ll need to make a minimum initial investment of £70,000, with franchise fees of £17,500 and a total investment cost of £130,000. 

3. What do you get for your investment?

Becoming a franchisee provides you (the ‘franchisee’) the opportunity to join an existing globally recognised brand. By joining the Southern Fried Chicken brand you become part of a community network and are granted access to tried and tested business systems, processes, products, training and support (from the ‘franchisor’) in exchange for a fixed fee.
- Southern Fried Chicken 

As a Southern Fried Chicken franchisee, you’ll be supported every step of the way, from site selection, outlet design and equipment sourcing to a multi-layer programme of training (pre-opening, opening and post-opening - all refined over decades). You’ll enjoy a central supply of essential equipment, ingredients and packaging and a local supply of fresh ingredients, including chicken. 

Twice a year, you’ll be audited and any needs will be highlighted, meaning your SFC store will always be running smoothly and any issues will be tackled head-on. Plus, whether you have the simplest or most complex of questions, support from your franchisor will always be just the other end of the phone. You’ll never be alone if you decide to invest with Southern Fried Chicken.

Southern Fried Chicken opportunities are a brilliant way to start running your own business 

You should now know everything you need about running your own fast food franchise with SFC. If you’re still on the fence about whether Southern Fried Chicken is the right investment for you, stay on Point Franchise and keep exploring the fast food sector. Discover the latest tech trends innovating the fast food sector and the top six fast food trends of 2022, and find out once and for all how to choose the right fast food franchise for you.