Popeyes has announced plans to expand with Manchester being among the locations that will see a new restaurant open.

The chicken chain hopes to almost double in size this year with the move creating around 2,000 jobs.

The brand is best known for its fried chicken sandwiches and it said more than 30 sites will open across the UK in 2024.

Manchester, Aberdeen and Swansea are all among the locations that Popeyes would like to open restaurants in.

Popeyes to open new restaurant in Manchester

A new restaurant will open on Bury New Road, Greater Manchester.

The restaurant chain has more than 4,000 restaurants globally and expanded from the US into the UK in late 2021.

Now the chain has 36 locations, including five drive-thru sites, and employs 2,300 workers.

New sites will open in Ilford and Hammersmith in London this week.

Tom Byng, chief development officer at Popeyes, said: “We opened our first store in November 2021, to huge hype and acclaim, and customer appetite shows no sign of slowing down.

“To date, we’ve opened 38 locations up and down the country, and converted legions of fried chicken fans to Popeyes.

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“We’re excited to be giving even more people their first taste of New Orleans as we double our estate in 2024.

“We’re particularly proud of our geographical spread of expansion, including our first ever travel hub restaurant in Waterloo station, which will be fuelling hungry travellers with great food and a dose of the famous New Orleans spirit.”

It comes two weeks after TDR Capital, the private equity firm which part-owns Asda, increased its shareholding to take effective control of Popeyes UK.