Wendy’s burger restaurant returns to UK 20 years on to take on rivals McDonalds

AMERICA’S second biggest burger chain Wendy’s is set to reopen in the UK - and hopes to challenge McDonald’s and Burger King. 

The fast food giant, known for its square burgers, plans to open up to 400 outlets nationwide in the next few years. 

Wendy’s, which closed its last branch in the UK twenty years ago, hopes to create 12,000 jobs after reopening. 

The firm has already agreed a delivery deal with Uber Eats - and plans to use its British outlets as a springboard to expand across Europe.  

A statement said: “The UK launch will spearhead a European-wide expansion as Wendy's looks to build on strong growth on the other side of the Atlantic, where the brand last year dethroned Burger King to become the No 2 player in the US hamburger market.”

Each branch will employ between 30 to 50 staff, the firm said.

The first will open in Reading next month followed by Stratford and Oxford. 

The full menu has yet to be announced, but the chain confirmed that it will be bringing its popular Dave's Burger to British shores this year.

Wendy's is the third largest burger chain in the world after McDonald's and Burger King, and already has 6,700 outlets in 30 countries around the world.

This isn’t the first time Wendy’s has tried to cross the pond - it first came to the UK in the 1980s and 1990s, but then decided to close all its stores in 1999.