Help Sitemap Home Skip Navigation Contact Us Disability Statement

jennings ford direct
Sponsored by
 
 
Saturday, 10th January 2009

Premium Article !

Your account has been frozen. For your available options click the below button.

Options

Premium Article !

To read this article in full you must have registered and have a Premium Content Subscription with the n/a site.

Subscribe

Registered Article !

To read this article in full you must be registered with the site.

A finger lickin' first for city



Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image

Published Date:
30 October 2008
He's the face that launched a world famous secret-recipe and now Colonel Harland Sanders, the man synonymous with Kentucky Fried Chicken, is in line for his own special treat.
A lasting tribute to the man behind the fast-food brand, possibly in the form of a bronze bust, has been included in plans for a heritage art trail of Preston.

A team of researchers, based at the University of Central Lancashire's design department, want to recognise the fact that the country's first KFC restaurant was opened in Fishergate.

The artwork would be placed outside the popular store as part of a 20-stop "outdoor museum" which would also include pieces dedicated to Nick Park, Kenny Baker and Joseph Livesey.

Preston's KFC was the first outside the US and Canada when it opened its doors at number 92 Fishergate in 1964.

Sarah Walsh, area manager for the franchisee that operates KFC Fishergate, says: "We are very proud that, of the 700 stores operating in the UK today, this was the very first one to open.

"We believe our success is due to the fact that we give our customers what they want – innovative, great quality products at value for money prices, whilst staying true to our famous finger lickin' taste."

The chain, which now employs around 27,000 people and notched up revenue of $520m last year, was born when Sanders first served his fried chicken during the midst of the Great Depression at a gas station he owned in North Corbin, Kentucky.

It proved so successful that, in 1936, Kentucky Governor Ruby Laffoon granted Sanders the title of honorary Kentucky Colonel.

In the years that followed, Col Sanders adapted his cooking style to quicken the process and then devised his "original recipe" in 1940.

The original handwritten recipe is kept locked away at the KFC corporate headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky.

The roots of the business in Preston can be traced back to a man whose face isn't seen on the famous red and white signs on almost every high street in Britain.

Ray Allen, a well-established caterer in Lancashire in the 1950 and 60s, met Col Sanders in 1963 and secured the famous American fast food rights for the Colonel's fried chicken for the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

After opening the Preston branch, Allen expanded the Kentucky Fried Chicken brand until, by the mid 1970s, 250 KFC company and franchised stores were trading throughout the UK.

To read more of this finger lickin' tale see Friday's LEP.

>> Vote in our latest web poll

lep business

The full article contains 432 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 30 October 2008 3:43 PM
  • Source: n/a
  • Location: Preston
 
Prev
1
Next
1

Peregrine,

Ashton 31/10/2008 08:26:38
When I was a child I went into Kentucky Fried Chicken (as it was called then) in Fishergate and I was stunned when Col Sanders walked in with Ray Allen! Col Sanders was dressed in his all white suit and hat just like the publicity.

2

Fighting for a chav free Preston,

31/10/2008 08:58:17
Wish I'd met the legend that is! My worry is, any tribute that is put in his honour will only be wrecked/defaced/smashed or will be subject any other manner of things that the chav scum of the city centre can throw at it.
3

David C,

31/10/2008 12:01:08
I think the statue should be of the man getting attacked by Chickens, and should be called, Kentucky fried revenge. Thousands would converge on the city just to see it.
Prev
1
Next

 

Comment on this Story

 

In order to post comments you must Register or Sign In

 
 
 
  

 
 


Sister Newspapers:
Press Complaints Commission

This website and its associated newspaper adheres to the Press Complaints Commission’s Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then contact the Editor by clicking here.

If you remain dissatisfied with the response provided then you can contact the PCC by clicking here.