US fast-food giant Chick-fil-A is set to launch in the UK in a renewed attempt to enter the market, a few years after its debut pop-up in Reading closed amid a row over the group’s historical ties to anti-gay beliefs.
The 55-year-old family-owned business runs more than 2,800 restaurants across the US, Canada and Puerto Rico, and is popular for its original Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich. Gay rights campaigners organised by Reading Pride protested outside the shopping centre and called for a boycott over the chain’s history of donating to groups it said were anti-LGBT rights.The Oracle said at the time it was the “right thing to do” to not extend the lease beyond the six-month pilot.
In recent years the group has focused its charity work on education and hunger. It hired its first vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion in 2020.