150 new jobs as KFC opens for breakfast

Aug 16 2008 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

COLONEL Sanders sent his top man to the region yesterday to declare the creation of 150 jobs on the back of a new breakfast menu which is being piloted in the North East.

Fast food company KFC will create new jobs at each of its North East branches as it launches its assault on the breakfast market with an entirely new menu and a new opening time of 6am.

The North East is the first region to sample the new menu, which will be piloted at each of the 15 branches in the Tyne Tees area.

KFC (UK) chief executive Martin Shuker, who made a whistle-stop tour of the region yesterday, said the North East had been chosen for the pilot scheme due to it being a strong performing area for the group.

He said: “This is a growth story. We had a record year in 2007 and 2008 is shaping up to be very strong as well and we are growing the business by 35 new stores this year.

“Tyne Tees is a region which is strong for us. In the last 15 months, we have opened branches in Billingham and Blyth and we will be starting work in Washington on Monday.” Following a successful trial in KFC’s flagship Marble Arch store in May, Tyne Tees yesterday became the first region to sample the new breakfast range which includes ‘a.m Loader’, ‘a.m Twister’ and ‘a.m soldiers’.

Jennelle Tilling, vice president of marketing for KFC UK, said: “Our customers already get a great tasting menu for lunch and dinner from KFC, so it’s a natural progression for us to move into breakfast.

“We’re really excited about the launch of KFC a.m and we’ve developed some great tasting products that we know our customers in the North East will love.”

Stephen Anderson, regional coach for Tyne Tees, said: “It’s great that Tyne Tees has been chosen to trial KFC a.m breakfast menu and 15 of our stores in the region will be offering breakfast from 6am to 10.30am. We are looking forward to welcoming customers to sample our new breakfast products.”