Top 12 Food Franchise Business Opportunities in the UK for 2024

Brits together with millions tourists coming to the country each year consume plenty of food. The food industry has been estimated £30 billion a year and the number is still growing. Being influenced by world trends, advertised in social media, modern people love visiting cafes and restaurants to have a bite there with family or friends in a pleasant atmosphere. It encouraged many food franchise concepts to appear on the market. If you are thinking of your own food business, choose one out of our Top 12 Food Franchise Business Opportunities in UK. You will get not only the food franchise business with a reliable name but also all recommendations on the location, staff and suppliers.

Here are the top 12 best food franchises in the UK

SUBWAY

Founded in: 1965
Franchising since: 1974
Franchise units: 42,000+
Initial investment: $150,050 - $328,700
Royalty Fees: 8%

Subway is an American privately held fast food restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches and salads. The story of the Subway brand started more than 50 years ago by 17-year-old Fred DeLuca. Today Subway serves about 5,300 sandwiches every 60 seconds, which is roughly 320,000 sandwiches every hour.

Domino’s Pizza

Founded in: 1960
Franchising in UK since: 1985
Franchise units: 13,200
Initial investment: from $370,000

Domino’s Pizza Group is officially Britain’s favorite pizza chain. The company sells one pizza in Britain every 3 seconds. The success of Domino’s Pizza business is built around having a simple business approach — deliver hot and freshly made pizzas in the quickest time possible.

Dunkin' Donuts

Founded in: 1950
Franchising since: 1955
Franchise units: 12,000+
Initial investment: $228,620 - $1,691,200
Initial Franchise Fee: $40,000 - $90,000
Ongoing Royalty Fee: 5.9%
Ad Royalty Fee: $2 - 6%

Dunkin' Donuts is an American global doughnut company and coffeehouse. The chain's products include doughnuts, bagels, other baked goods, and a variety of hot and iced beverages. 30 cups of coffee are being sold by DD every second and around 2.9 billion donuts and munchkins globally each year. DD crafts a special donut that reflects the local cuisine and culture for each country it’s in.

McDonald's

Founded in: 1955
Franchising since: 1955
Franchise units: 37,000+
Initial investment: $1,058,000 - $2,230,000
Initial Franchise Fee: $45,000
Ongoing Royalty Fee: 4%
Ad Royalty Fee: $4%+

McDonald's is the world's largest restaurant chain by revenue, serving over 69 million customers daily in over 100 countries. A new McDonald’s restaurant is opened in every 14.5 hours. McDonald’s sells over 75 burgers every single second. Approximately 7% of the potatoes grown in the U.S. are turned into McDonald’s fries.

Dairy Queen

Founded in: 1940
Franchising since: 1944
Franchise units: 6,500+
Initial investment:$1,083,525 - $1,850,425
Initial Franchise Fee: $35,000
Ongoing Royalty Fee: 4%
Ad Royalty Fee: $5 - 6%

Dairy Queen, often abbreviated DQ, is a chain of soft serve ice cream and fast-food restaurants owned by International Dairy Queen, Inc., a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. International Dairy Queen, Inc., also owns Orange Julius and Karmelkorn.

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Papa John's

Founded in: 1985
Franchising since: 1986
Franchise units: 5000+
Initial investment: from $130,000 - $844,500
Royalty Fees: 5%

John Schnatter dreamed of opening his own pizza restaurant from the time he was a high school student working at a local pizza parlor. Today, Schnatter's dream has resulted in thousands of Papa John's restaurants worldwide. There are more than 400 Papa John's stores in the UK.

KFC

Founded in: 1930
Franchising since: 1952 Franchise units: 23,000+
Initial investment: $1,442,550 - $2,771,500
Initial Franchise Fee: $45,000
Ongoing Royalty Fee: 5%
Ad Royalty Fee: $5%

KFC, also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is an American fast food restaurant chain that specializes in fried chicken. KFC is the traditional Christmas eve dinner in Japan. KFC's original product is pressure-fried chicken pieces, seasoned with Sanders' recipe of 11 herbs and spices. The constituents of the recipe represent a notable trade secret.

Pizza Hut

Founded in: 1958
Franchising since: 1959
Franchise units: 14,645
Initial investment: $302,000 - $2,185,500
Initial Franchise Fee: $25,000
Ongoing Royalty Fee: 6%
Ad Royalty Fee: 4.25%

Pizza Hut is known for its Italian-American cuisine menu including pizza and pasta, as well as side dishes and desserts. Pizza Hut delivered a pizza to the International Space Station in 2001, paying the Russians $1 million to transport the pizza. The company is the largest user of cheese in the world. The most successful Pizza Hut is located in Moscow and sells £6,500 in pizza, pasta and drinks per day.

Burger King

Founded in: 1956
Franchising since: 1956
Franchise units: 16,770
Initial investment: $323,100 - $3,076,600
Royalty: 4.5% of monthly gross sales
Advertising: 4% of monthly gross sales

Burger King Corporation, restaurant company specializing in flame-broiled fast-food hamburgers. It is the second largest hamburger chain the the United States, after McDonald’s. Worldwide, over 11 million customers visit Burger King Restaurants for their burger.

Wok to Walk

Founded in: 2004
Franchising since: 2006
Franchise units: 100+
Initial investment: $250,000 - $500,000
Royalty Fees: 5%

Wok to Walk is a fast food takeaway restaurant chain from the Netherlands specialized in wok stir-fried Asian cuisine. Wok to Walk started in Amsterdam after a trip around Asia. Wok to Walk was created to fill a gap in the market for quick-service meals in the city. Young, active people need options that fit their busy lifestyle.

Humpit

Founded in: 2014
Franchising since: 2014
Franchise units: 6
Initial investment: from $100,000
Royalty Fees: 8%

Having traveled around the Mediterranean and the Middle East sampling great meals based on two amazing ingredients, we decided it was time to specialize and create a brand where we could encourage people to try the delights of this simple but incredible combination. We are looking for regional franchisees in all parts of the UK to serve a full selection of hummus, pitas, falafel, salads, pickles, sauces, juices and our unique hot and iced HUMPTEA.

Frankie & Benny's

Founded in: 1995
Franchising since: 1999
Franchise units: 250
Initial investment: from $650,000
Royalty Fees: 6%

Frankie & Benny's is a chain of Italian-American restaurants in the United Kingdom, with numerous outlets nationwide, run by The Restaurant Group plc. The first location opened in 1995 in Leicester, but now the chain has over 250 locations across the UK. The restaurants offer Italian cuisine with kids menu and gluten free options.

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