Chick-fil-A could open its first Greater Manchester restaurant in Ashton-under-Lyne, where plans have been lodged to turn a former Pizza Hut at Snipe Retail Park into a drive-thru. The scheme follows planning approval for a drive-thru in Rotherham and the opening of the chain’s first UK drive-thru in Hamilton last month.
The US chicken chain returned to the UK with a restaurant in Leeds last year and has committed to invest more than $100 million in the UK over ten years, according to Rothbiz. The Manchester Evening News lists its existing sites in London, Leeds and Liverpool, with others in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The Ashton-under-Lyne plans
The application comes from CBRE Investment Management, which manages the Hampshire County Council Pension Fund and intends to lease the unit to Chick-fil-A once the works are complete, according to the Tameside Reporter. The plans cover part-demolition of the building, an extension and a two-lane drive-thru, with access through the retail park car park off Manchester Road. The scheme would remove 53 standard parking spaces. The building opened as a McDonald’s in 1995 and traded as a Pizza Hut until October 2025. No decision has been made.
The Pizza Hut unit had stood empty for more than a year. It was one of 68 sites that shut in October 2025, the Manchester Evening News reported. The Tameside Correspondent reported that the restaurant would create part-time and full-time jobs, without giving a number.
A drive-thru programme across the north
Rotherham Council approved Chick-fil-A’s plans for a drive-thru at Cortonwood Retail Park earlier this month, Rothbiz reported on 4 November. The scheme changes the use of the unit and adds a 300 sq ft extension, and it will be South Yorkshire’s first branch. Staff will take drive-thru orders face to face on handheld tablets. Joanna Symonds, head of UK operations at Chick-fil-A, said: “Much more than a new level of convenience, the drive-thru extends our signature hospitality into a new service channel.”
Former Pizza Hut units
Both northern schemes reuse former Pizza Hut restaurants. Rothbiz says the Cortonwood unit closed after a UK operator of the brand entered administration, and the Ashton site was among the 68 that shut in October 2025.
The Hamilton restaurant at Hamilton Palace Grounds Retail Park was the chain’s first restaurant in Scotland and its first UK drive-thru, in a former KFC drive-thru unit. The company said it would create around 100 full and part-time jobs, with seating for 66 to 68 diners. Propel reported on 10 November that the chain also plans to convert the former Footasylum shop on Clumber Street in Nottingham, a move TheBusinessDesk first reported in August.
What comes next
Tameside Council has yet to decide the Ashton application. Rothbiz reports that the group, which runs more than 3,000 sites and is the third largest quick-service restaurant company in the US, has committed to five UK restaurants in its first two years. No opening date has been given for Rotherham, Ashton or Nottingham. Quick-service brands that recruit UK franchisees appear among the fast food franchise listings.
