- Chicken Cottage promotes Tom Corcoran to COO and Rahim Naggay to Group Operations Manager
- Croydon business achieves target of 10 new stores in 2025 and expands overseas
Chicken Cottage has made two senior internal appointments on the back of a period of significant growth in the UK and overseas this year.
The Croydon-based QSR has promoted 35-year-old Tom Corcoran to Chief Operating Officer after serving as Group Head of Operations.
The second appointment sees the experienced Rahim Naggay step up from Senior Franchise Business Manager to Group Operations Manager.
The promotions recognise their contribution and that of the wider management team that has enabled the company to reestablish itself as the halal market leader in fried and grilled chicken.
Improvements across the business include working on new initiatives on supply chain operations and technological improvements in how the company communicates with its franchisees. The impact has seen enhanced relationships with franchisees.
Corcoran said: “Having been at Chicken Cottage for a number of years it is an honour to be stepping up to COO.
“It has been an exceptional few months for the business, bringing fresh ideas and new ways of working and communicating those has really brought benefits to those that are crucial to the success of Chicken Cottage – the franchisees.
“This is just the start and under my watch we will be looking to continue to add value for all of our franchisees.”
Chicken Cottage has seen a productive year in the UK QSR market having already reached its target of opening 10 new stores this year. As a consequence, it has reassessed its aims and is now expecting to add more stores before the end of the year.
It has also innovated its operations model with the addition of ‘store-in-store’ branches in local convenience stores such as Spar and Premier outlets. Chicken Cottage is the first brand in its sector to explore this model.
Sadaf Kazi, Head of Franchise Development at Chicken Cottage said: “Our target was to open 10 stores in the entire year but have achieved that with one quarter remaining. Having achieved our target, we are well on track to overachieve as we’ve got more store openings scheduled before the year, while we have also got a good pipeline for next year as well.
“This is complemented by integrating the store-in-store concept. We were just doing high streets and kiosks but now we’re having branches in convenience stores, which differentiates us from other brands.
“We’re moving into the likes of Spar and Premier and it brings a whole new market.”
The business has also established itself in new territories overseas, building on its existing presence in Kenya. Chicken Cottage has sold the franchise into Pakistan, where it already has three franchise stores operating. It is also set to have a foothold in the UAE and Iraq.
Kazi added: “It has always been our aim to expand the franchise overseas and beyond Kenya. We have achieved that this year having sold the ‘territory rights’ to operators in Pakistan, UAE and Iraq. We are supporting them to establish franchises in those locations and will have four stores in Pakistan by the end of the year.”
The managerial promotions, new stores and overseas expansion have bolstered a business that celebrated its 30th anniversary last year but felt it wasn’t challenging as the market leader.
She continued: “As a business we went through a dip phase. We have undergone some fresh processes and some changes and we view this as the beginning of the cycle. We are re-emerging and we’re positioning ourselves as the market leader that we were.”
