TL;DR
Houston TX Hot Chicken has signed a master franchise agreement with PizzaExpress to open 50 locations in the UK. The brand's US expansion is backed by Savory Fund, a private equity firm.
Houston TX Hot Chicken has signed a master franchise agreement with PizzaExpress to bring its fast-casual chicken concept to the United Kingdom. Under the agreement, three UK locations are expected to open in 2026, with plans to expand to 50 restaurants over the following three years. PizzaExpress operates about 500 locations in the UK and Ireland.
Earlier this year, the Las Vegas-based brand signed 26 franchise agreements to expand across four U.S. states. It also opened restaurants in Phoenix and entered the Pacific Northwest market with a location in Seattle.
Houston TX Hot Chicken's U.S. expansion is backed by Savory Fund, a Utah-based private equity firm with more than $750 million in assets under management.
"HHC has built something rare: a brand with genuine cultural energy and the operational foundation to scale," Andrew K. Smith, managing director of Savory Fund, said in a press release. "Taking that to the U.K. through a partner like PizzaExpress, with their scale and market knowledge, is exactly the kind of move that accelerates a brand's trajectory."
In this story
This story was originally published in FastCasual on June 23, 2026. Burnaze summarizes and links to the original reporting.
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