Chinese chain signs up for former Jamie’s Italian in Bullring

A CHINESE restaurant chain is opening its third UK outlet in the former Jamie’s Italian unit in Birmingham’s Bullring.

Haidilao will launch at the shopping centre early next year after agreeing a deal with landlord Hammerson. The company was founded in 1994 in China’s Sichuan Province and has grown to become one of the country’s largest restaurant groups.

It operates so-called ‘hot pot’ restaurants and has 750 sites globally including throughout Asia, the US, Canada and Australia.

The restaurant will serve traditional hot pots at every table and customers will be able to choose from soups, meats and noodle dishes.

The latest letting at the Bullring follows a recent investment of £1 million by The Entertainer. It refurbished and reopened its store in the centre which included its first Early Learning Centre shop-in-shop after acquiring the company from Mothercare for £13.5 million last year.

Iain Mitchell, UK commercial director at Hammerson, said: “Bullring remains one of the nation’s leading retail and leisure destinations and the fact a global brand like Haidilao has chosen the centre for its first restaurant outside of London really demonstrates that.

“Restaurants and bars are having a really tough time at the moment but this announcement shows that, with the right brand in the right location, there is still scope for growth.”

A Haidilao spokesman said: “As the UK’s second city and one with a large multi-cultural population, Birmingham is the ideal location for the first restaurant outside of London.

“The Bullring provides us with the high footfall, strong reputation and central position that we seek.”