Burger King UK targets 30 new openings a year

Burger King UK plans to open around 30 new restaurants a year from 2026 after reportedly securing millions of pounds of new funding.

The chain’s private equity backer Bridgepoint has invested £15m into the fast food giant in recent days, with a further £20m expected over the next 18 months, according to Sky News.

It comes as Burger King UK signed a new 20-year master franchise agreement with a subsidiary of parent company Restaurant Brands International that will extend its reach to the Republic of Ireland.

Burger King operates 574 restaurants in the UK, 284 of which are directly owned, and employs around 6,000 people.

In results released this week, the chain said it had delivered a “solid performance” in 2024 despite rising costs hitting the hospitality sector.

Revenue rose 7% to £408.3m while underlying EBITDA jumped 12% to £26m. Like-for-like sales increased 4.5% to £347m, driven by both home delivery and in-store trading.

The group said it had maintained “good momentum” into the first half of 2025.

Burger King has continued to invest in rolling out kiosk ordering across its restaurants while there are over 2.5m users of its app in the UK.

The chain said it would continue to trial promoting personalised digital offers to customers in 2026 as well as using AI to make its operations more efficient.

It said the September launch of the Wagyu, an £11 premium burger advertised by Gordon Ramsay, had contributed to 15% of sales this year.

Alasdair Murdoch, chief executive of Burger King UK, said: “While macroeconomic and political uncertainty persists, we remain confident that our ambitious expansion plans, ongoing innovation, and continued investment in digital initiatives will enable us to deliver sustained growth.”

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