The chicken fast-food brand, which arrived on UK shores in 2021, was the fastest-growing fast-food brand in the UK in the 12 months to January 2025.
Popeyes UK has hired its first chief marketing officer, as the chicken fast-food brand looks to accelerate its growth.
Jo Vaughton will join the brand in June from Pizza Express, where she has been marketing director since March 2023, having overseen recent moves to refresh and evolve the brand. Prior to her time at the pizza chain, she held head of brand marketing roles at payment platform Mollie and travel business Celebrity Cruises.
Operated by Burger King-owner Restaurant Brands International, Popeyes was first founded in Louisiana in 1972 and entered the UK market in 2021. The brand now operates more than 70 restaurants in the UK and was the fastest growing quick-service restaurant brand in the 12 months to January 2025, measured by year-on-year percentage growth in total store numbers across major brands.
Welcoming Vaughton to the role, UK CEO Tom Crowley said her experience will be invaluable as Popeyes scales across the UK.
“Working alongside our well-established marketing team, Jo’s wealth of experience with large hospitality brands will be invaluable to Popeyes as we accelerate our growth strategy bring the brand to more customers across the UK,” said Crowley.
The appointment of Popeyes’ first UK CMO comes amid big plans for expansion. The chain intends to almost double its UK restaurant footprint in 2025 and grow sales to £200m, having reported sales of £118m in 2024.
“Popeyes is a fantastic brand that is known and loved internationally, and I’m excited to be part of team Popeyes as the company delivers against its ambitious growth over the coming years,” Vaughton said, describing this time for the business as “pivotal”.
New brands entering the UK fast-food sector have been shaking up the market, in particular those in the chicken segment. Alongside Popeyes, brands like Wingstop and Dave’s Hot Chicken have crossed the Atlantic into the UK market – with the former also hiring its first CMO at the end of last year.
