Chick-fil-A will open its first restaurant in Scotland on Thursday 29 October, at Hamilton Palace Grounds Retail Park in South Lanarkshire. It will also be the US chain’s first UK drive-thru, built in a former KFC drive-thru unit. The company says the restaurant will create around 100 full and part-time jobs.
The Glasgow Times reported the opening date as 13 October 2026. Chick-fil-A already trades in Liverpool, Kingston, Leeds and Northern Ireland, according to the Foodservice Equipment Journal. The Hamilton site is Unit B of the retail park, east of the town centre. The company says it plans to invest more than $100 million in the UK over the next decade, capital it is committing itself rather than raising from operators, as happens across the fast food brands recruiting UK partners. When it announced its UK plans in 2024, it put the commitment at more than £82 million over ten years.
A former KFC unit refitted for the drive-thru
Planning permission granted earlier this year covers a rear extension, new plant equipment, changes to the drive-thru lane and a full exterior refurbishment of the old KFC building. Inside there will be room for 66 to 68 diners, with digital menu boards and outdoor seating. In the drive-thru, staff will take orders face-to-face on handheld tablets rather than only through a speaker. The plans also add new cladding, canopies and Chick-fil-A branding, move the accessible parking and add cycle and motorcycle spaces, according to the Foodservice Equipment Journal. Signs went up on the building last month as the conversion work progressed.
Customers will be able to eat in, order takeaway or use the drive-thru. The restaurant will open from 10am to 10pm, Monday to Saturday, and will close on Sundays, a tradition the chain traces back to its founder, Truett Cathy.
The first UK test of the drive-thru format
Drive-thru is central to many US quick-service brands, and Hamilton is where Chick-fil-A will first use the format in the UK. Joanna Symonds, head of UK operations at Chick-fil-A, said: “Opening our first drive-thru in the UK and our first restaurant in Scotland marks an important step forward for Chick-fil-A.” She added that the drive-thru “extends our signature hospitality into a new service channel”. The restaurant will also take part in Chick-fil-A Shared Table, a programme that passes surplus food to local organisations.
Jobs and the chicken market in Scotland
The job figures differ slightly by source. The company told the Glasgow Times the restaurant would create around 100 roles, while planning documents reported by the Foodservice Equipment Journal pointed to about 90. Chick-fil-A first announced its UK expansion in 2024, and the trade press reports that its UK restaurants serve chicken sourced in the UK.
The Foodservice Equipment Journal added that the wider UK programme is expected to create about 400 jobs across the chain’s first UK sites. Neither report sets out how the UK restaurants are owned or run. The Hamilton opening brings another chicken brand into a Scottish market where KFC trades from 58 restaurants. On the same day, KFC said it had rolled out its new Kwench drinks range to every one of them.
