KFC Closes Nearly 900 UK Chains After Running out of Chicken

Colonel Sanders has his work cut out for him after nearly 900 Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in the UK were forced to close.

“The chicken crossed the road, just not to our restaurants,” KFC is saying in response to why it ran out of chickens at nearly 900 of its franchises in the UK, the BBC reports. The issues began over the weekend when several restaurants had issues with deliveries, leaving them with a chicken shortage, something that is a major problem for the place that is prized for its “finger lickin’ good” chicken.

“We’ve brought a new delivery partner onboard, but they’ve had a couple of teething problems – getting fresh chicken out to 900 restaurants across the country is pretty complex,” the fast food chain said in a statement. “We won’t compromise on quality, so no deliveries has meant some of our restaurants are closed, and others are operating a limited menu or shortened hours.”

The shortage of chicken comes after the fried chicken chain switched its delivery contract to DHL, which has blamed “operational issues” for the mishap.

“Due to operational issues, a number of deliveries in recent days have been incomplete or delayed. We are working with our partners, KFC and QSL, to rectify the situation as a priority and apologize for any inconvenience,” the delivery company said in a statement.

Workers at the closed restaurants are being encouraged to take holiday, though they are not being forced to. Staff on short-term contracts will be paid the average hours worked per day over the past 12 weeks, while those on salaries would be paid as normal. The company is encouraging franchisees to follow suit.

The shortage means that the Colonel has a lot of work cut out for him. The new Colonel, Christopher Boyer, was chosen in December as part of the company’s rolling Colonel campaign. Most recently, Reba McEntire took on the role, too, becoming the first female Colonel and putting a country spin to the iconic character.