Chick-fil-A comes back to the UK

In a press statement on Thursday, the company said that its first store would open at the beginning of 2025, followed by four more over the next two years.

Chick-fil-A said that each store will be owned and run by a franchise, and that each is expected to make between 80 and 120 jobs. They will be the first shops the company opens outside of North America, the statement said. 

Chick-fil-A, Inc. In 2019, a temporary shop opened in Reading, a town west of London. This caused local LGBTQ+ rights activists to protest. Local news outlet Berkshire Live claimed that the mall where the pop-up shop was located said soon after that it would not renew the shop's lease after the six-month trial period.

LGBT rights activists have been upset with the restaurant company for years because it used to give money to Christian groups like the Salvation Army and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which are against gay rights and same-sex marriage.

But in 2019, the restaurant company changed the way its charity worked. It stopped giving money to groups that were against LGBTQ people and said it would only give to groups that helped with schooling, homelessness, and hunger.

Chick-fil-A plans to spend $100 million in the UK over the next 10 years. By 2026, the company also wants to open restaurants in Asia.