Sam's Chicken

Sam's Chicken
Restaurant franchise
Founded 1990
Headquarters Harrow, Middlesex, England
Number of locations
 34
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. It has 34 outlets, the majority of which are in west and north west London.[1][2] It was founded in 1990 by Sri Lankan Sam Chandrasinghe, with the opening of its first restaurant in Wealdstone, Harrow, north west London. Chandrasinghe had previously worked for KFC UK as deputy operations director.

Sam's Chicken's food is produced with 100% rapeseed oil, meaning healthier fast food, and its London stores were certified with the ‘Healthier Catering Commitment for London’.[3] Their products are also halal certified.[4] Sam's Chicken pioneered the two burgers for £2 deal, which was revolutionary at the time.[5]

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][6] 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".[7]

Controversy

In May 2009, the Evening Standard reported that 62 year old Sam Chandrasinghe said that his staff and shops had been targeted by Tamil youth as part of a hate campaign due to his Sinhalese background.[8]

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.[9] 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.[10]

Locations

Apart from its strongholds in west and north west London, there are sporadic branches around London including: East Sheen, Tooting, Croydon, Mottingham, Woolwich, East Ham, Tottenham, Holloway, Kentish Town, 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 and the Isle of Wight.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Sam's Chicken". Samschicken.com. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Hoult, Nick (16 May 2014). "Fried-chicken business could be in sights of Twenty 20's hired gun Kevin Pietersen". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "SAM'S CHICKEN BRINGS FRESH TASTE TO RYDE - Island Echo - 24hr news, 7 days a week across the Isle of Wight". Island Echo. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  4. ↑ "Our Chicken". Samschicken.com. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  5. ↑ Clack, David (3 October 2015). "We lift the lid on London's obsession with fried chicken". Timeout.com. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  6. ↑ "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.
  7. ↑ Reynolds, Luke. "Bopara's unique chicken partnership two not out". GiveMeSport. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  8. ↑ "Sri Lankan fast-food chain targeted by Tamil revenge mob | News | London Evening Standard". Evening Standard. 22 May 2009. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  9. ↑ "Cheap meat and tales of exploitation behind the chicken shop counter | Business". The Guardian. 13 March 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  10. ↑ "Fowl-play by chicken shop | Ealing Council". Ealing.gov.uk. 26 November 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
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