Posted:18-November-2025
CHAIIWALA CREATES BLUEPRINT FOR UK EXPANSION WITH THE SIGNING OF NEW MULTI-UNIT DEAL WITH SPLENDID HOSPITALITY GROUP
Chaiiwala, the UK’s leading Indian street food café brand, is delighted to announce the opening of a new drive thru and shopping centre cafe in Nottingham in partnership with new franchisee Splendid Hospitality Group. Splendid Hospitality Group, which operates 38 franchised KFC restaurants in the Midlands and North East, has also assumed the operations of Chaiiwala’s existing high street location in Nottingham.
Founded in Leicester in 2015, Chaiiwala is known for its authentic and carefully brewed Karak chai and unique, high-quality street food bursting with traditional flavours. Over the past decade, the brand has grown significantly to operate over 100 cafes in the UK, more than 20 in Canada, and a handful in Dubai.
The openings in Nottingham will help quickly establish the brand as a leading destination for delicious high protein dishes across all dayparts. Alongside its existing cafe, this will create a diversified footprint in Nottingham, with one high street location, one shopping centre and one drive thru.
With a proven track record of excellence in operating franchised brands and its reputation for best-in-class service, Splendid has been selected as Chaiiwala’s trusted partner in supporting its expansion drive throughout Nottingham and the Northeast. This will not only serve a variety of the city’s consumers at different times of the day and purchasing opportunities – from a chaii on–the–go from the drive thru to catching up with family and friends for breakfast on the high street – but will also act as a blueprint for Chaiiwala’s franchise expansion across the UK. Over the next 10 years, Chaiiwala is aiming to scale to at least 500 cafes across the UK and sees opportunities to replicate the approach in Nottingham across other towns and cities.
The new openings build upon a period of commercial and strategic progress for Chaiiwala. After closing FY24 with system sales up 35% to nearly £90m, the Group has continued its momentum in 2025 and recently announced the opening of its latest store in Hayes as well as the launch of its first motorway services location at Watford Gap services. Over the Autumn/Winter period, Chaiiwala is aiming to open at least six additional stores.
Sohail Ali, Co-Founder of Chaiiwala, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Splendid Hospitality on board as our new franchisee in Nottingham. Splendid are a fantastic, proven operator of franchised brands, share our ambitions for scaling Chaiiwala, and have already hit the ground running with two new openings. These new locations complement our existing high street store, which is also now within Splendid’s operations, and enable us to make delicious Indian inspired street food and world class karak chaii even more accessible across all dayparts.
We also believe our expansion in Nottingham can serve as a blueprint for future growth and see opportunities to replicate this model with a high street, drive thru, and shopping centre location within other major cities. As we scale up and realise our ambitious expansion plans, this model will prove invaluable.”
Nadeem Boghani, Executive Chairman of Splendid Hospitality Group, said: “We are delighted to partner with Chaiiwala, a truly distinctive and fast-growing brand that has redefined the casual dining and café experience for a new generation. At Splendid, we are always looking for opportunities to collaborate with dynamic partners who share our passion for hospitality, quality, and innovation.
Launching our first three Chaiiwala restaurants in Nottingham marks the beginning of an exciting journey, and we look to developing this vibrant, community-focused concept.”
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