Plans submitted to bring grilled chicken franchise to Rhyl retail park

“Pepe’s Piri Piri”, with has more than 150 stores in the UK, hopes to move into unit four of Marina Quay Retail Park, with a decision due by June 21.

The restaurant will feature up to 30 seats for diners and will create up to 16 job opportunities.

Involved in the application is Nuruj Chowdhury, who was born in Bangor and is based in Colwyn Bay, working as a structural design engineer in aerospace.

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Mr Chowdhury said: “I have a passion for business and I have been thinking and planning to bring this franchise to North Wales for a number of years.

“However, due to the pandemic, it was put on hold. It has been challenging to find the right location and unit and now that a good location has been found, I don't want to miss this opportunity.

“This is the first (Pepe’s Piri Piri store in North Wales) and hopefully not the last.

“Pepe’s has become one of the leading Piri-Piri chicken restaurants in England, and I’m excited to invest in the local community and bring the brand to the people in North Wales.

“I believe we are missing out on this type of healthy, grilled chicken-type food in the region; the chain describes itself as the ‘home of fresh flame-grilled chicken’.

“It serves up chicken including in wraps, burritos, in toasted pitta, along with wings. Marina Quay offers an ideal location for the local people, and also a great option for visitors in the area.”

Marina Quay currently hosts such retail units as a 18,651 sq ft Aldi store, B&M, The Range, Costa Coffee and Greggs.

The retail park, which was constructed in 2017 and comprises more than 105,000 sq ft of prime retail warehouse units, was sold in a deal worth more than £17million to an investor from the Isle of Man in late 2021.

Mr Chowdhury has also proposed that the application includes bilingual signage regarding the company’s slogan on the front of the store at Marina Quay.

The site's proposed bilingual signage. Photo: Nuruj Chowdhury

He added: “I am proud to be Welsh and I value and respect the Welsh culture. I will try and offer bilingual signage where possible for the people in Wales.

“The front signage consists of the franchise’s slogan, where I have proposed it to be translated in Welsh.”

The full list of documents attached to this application can be found at: planning.denbighshire.gov.uk/planning/search-applications?civica.query.FullTextSearch=marina#VIEW?RefType=PBDC&KeyNo=32545.