Sam's Chicken
British fast food chain
 A Sam's Chicken branch in Harrow & Wealdstone, London | |
| Company type | Restaurant franchise |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1990; 34 years ago (1990) |
| Headquarters | Harrow, Middlesex , England |
Number of locations | 40+ |
Key people | Sam Chandrasinghe (founder) |
| Products | Fried chicken, grilled peri peri chicken |
| Website | http://www.samschicken.com/ |
Sam's chicken is a British fast food chain with 44 outlets Nationwide, with the majority being situated in North West London.[1]
Sam's was founded in 1990 by Sam Chandrasinghe with the first Sam's outlet being opened in Harrow & Wealdstone.
Mr Chandrasinghe, who had previously worked for KFC UK as the Deputy Operations Director, saw a gap in the UK fried chicken market and wished to introduce his philosophy of fried chicken, a healthier catering commitment for London, using only fresh halal certified chicken, which would be marinated and breaded in store ensuring both quality and consistency.
His philosophy is what separated Sam's from the rest of London's chicken shops and it's a philosophy that is still being used to this very day.
Cricketers' branch
In March 2012, England cricketer Ravi Bopara opened a new branch in Tooting. The branch is managed by Bopara's brother Etinder and first cousin Gurinder and Ravi is believed to be an investor.[2][3] Also in 2012, Sam Chandrasinghe had approached England cricketer Kevin Pietersen to become the owner of a branch.[2] In 2014, it was reported that Bopara now owned two branches of Sam's Chicken, Tooting and East Ham:
"I remember when I was saying it when I was about 14 and I said to my mates that we're going to own a chicken shop one day because all we used to eat was chicken, so we wanted to sit and eat our own chicken without having to pay for it".[4]
Health and safety
In March 2014, The Guardian reported on how food hygiene inspectors found a small windowless bedroom behind the busy kitchen of a Sam's branch in east London, and that combined with imported chicken pieces enabled chicken shops to offer low prices to keep poor consumers happy, even if local councils were not.[5] In November 2013, Sam's Chicken were fined £1750 by Ealing Council for fly-tipping of 35 rubbish sacks over seven nights, the shop owner had previously been fined in 2011.[6]
Locations
Apart from its strongholds in west and north west London, there are other branches around London including: East Sheen, Tooting, Croydon, Mottingham, Woolwich, East Ham, Tottenham, Holloway, North Finchley, Colindale, as well as Borehamwood and Watford. Outside London's orbital M25 motorway, Sam's Chicken has branches in Luton, Birmingham, Wellingborough, Northampton, Southampton, Bournemouth and Isle of Wight.
References
- ^ "Sam's Chicken". Samschicken.com. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
telegraph1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "England Cricketers visit Tooting High Street for Opening of Sam's Chicken - Tooting Chat, on the Tooting Forum". Tootingonline.com. 1 March 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ Reynolds, Luke. "Bopara's unique chicken partnership two not out". GiveMeSport. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ "Cheap meat and tales of exploitation behind the chicken shop counter | Business". The Guardian. 13 March 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
- ^ "Fowl-play by chicken shop | Ealing Council". Ealing.gov.uk. 26 November 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
External links
- Official website
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Chicken-based restaurant chains
