Burger King roadside test spells end for Little Chef

Granada and Burger King have signed an agreement to test replacing Little Chef roadside restaurants with Burger King outlets, first revealed in Marketing Week (MW January 5).

Its initial plans involve eight roadside units, four of which will be converted from Little Chef to Burger King restaurants.

The other four will be co-branded units with Little Chef and Burger King restaurants operating side by side. The companies say they will evaluate the success of the scheme at the end of the year.

Granada acquired the Little Chef chain, which has 340 outlets, when it took over Forte earlier this year and says it may extend its Burger King concept into more outlets if the tests prove successful.

At the moment there are no plans for Burger King to link up with Granada’s other roadside restaurant chain, Happy Eater, which has 67 outlets.

Burger King says the move fits its strategy of developing into more diverse locations.

Prior to its takeover of Forte, Granada attacked the Little Chef chain as “tired and neglected”. Commenting on its latest move, it says: “We have an excellent network of sites; re-engineering the estate to reflect changing customer requirements is key to our future plans.”

The two companies already work together and there are 42 Burger King restaurants at Granada motorway and roadside locations.