A major refurbishment programme has been completed for two Wimpy restaurants in Colchester, and King's Lynn in Norfolk.

The move underlines franchisee Raj Bhangal’s faith and commitment to the much-loved Wimpy brand, especially at such a difficult time for the hospitality industry.

“The last few months have certainly been challenging,” said Raj. “We felt this was exactly the right time to take advantage of a quieter period to carry out the refurbishment work, so we can be ready as diners return to the high street. Investing in the new branding is really exciting for us and we can’t wait to show it off.

Both restaurants have seen the introduction of Wimpy UK’s new SHIFT Design, building on the brand’s strong heritage and much-loved traditions, featuring bright new colours, new seating and layout.

British burger favourite Wimpy has chosen Southampton as the location for its second ‘dark kitchen’ operation.

Just opened at newly-refurbished kitchen premises in the Shirley area of the city, the restaurant now provides meals only available to order via home delivery apps Just Eat, Uber Eats and Deliveroo.

Del Ghosal is one of the franchisees behind the new opening, which comes just a few weeks after Del launched Wimpy’s first virtual kitchen operation in Slough, Berkshire - part of an ongoing trial as the company continues to adapt to new ways of reaching customers during the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Six new jobs have been created in the city and the team cooks food to order, meeting online delivery orders within a two-mile radius of its base. Stringent social distancing and health and safety protocols have been put in place for staff and delivery collection drivers.

Wimpy has been shortlisted in the Business Transformation category at the bfa HSBC British Franchise Awards, to be held at the Vox, Birmingham, on November 30.

Chris Woolfenden, General Manager, Wimpy UK, said: “Wimpy is thrilled to have been shortlisted by the bfa. We are incredibly proud to be such a great British success story and we owe a huge debt of gratitude to our brilliant franchisees and their teams who do such a great job serving our customers.”

The awards evening is the flagship event in the franchising calendar and getting a nomination in itself is an achievement, proving the business works ethically and in the best interests of franchisees and staff, beating many other franchise systems who also entered.

Wimpy has come back to Slough – opening a ‘dark kitchen’ which only provides meals via contact-free home delivery.

Strictly off limits to the general public, the Wimpy is being run by joint franchisees, father and son Herjit and Del Ghosal.

The new operation offers meals only available to order via home delivery apps Just Eat, Uber Eats and Deliveroo.

“We have had a fantastic response, we couldn’t be happier,” said Del. “We have always had a passion for the Wimpy brand and being able to bring Wimpy back to Slough via home delivery is brilliant.”

On Saturday 4 July 2020, most Wimpy restaurants will re-open their eat-in dining areas. Restaurants will be operating a reduced menu with fewer covers available, thus limiting the number of customers permitted to use table service.

In accordance with government guidelines, additional safety measures have been put in place to protect our customers and staff.

Customers can still enjoy a Wimpy from the comfort of home or on-the-go by using our home delivery or takeaway service.

Use our Find Your Wimpy search facility to find out what services your local Wimpy is currently offering. Visit our FAQs section to find out more about the new measures in place.

Your safety is our priority. We have implemented a range of operational changes and protective measures across our restaurants and express sites to keep customers and employees safe.

We have introduced capacity limits and social distancing; we are fitting protective screens at our counters; availability of protective workwear for our teams; additional, more frequent, cleaning measures; availability of hand sanitiser; encouragement of contactless card payment. Where applicable, restaurants are operating contact-free delivery, takeaway and in-store collection.

There may also be a difference in the menu offerings across our various menu channels. We will be offering a reduced table service menu until further notice. Menus will be available at the restaurant or can be viewed on our website.

For further information please visit our FAQs page.

A smart, new-look Wimpy Borehamwood reopened for business on Wednesday (April 29), offering takeaway and home delivery services.

It’s a welcome return to the town for franchisees, the Bastug family, who have just invested in a major makeover for the restaurant, costing thousands of pounds.

The refurbishment programme has seen Wimpy Borehamwood adopt Wimpy UK’s new SHIFT Design, building on the brand’s strong heritage and much-loved traditions, featuring bright new colours, new seating and layout.

Tuguy Bastug, the third generation of his family to run the Wimpy, said: “The new look is 100% amazing and it is even better than we could have imagined. Adopting the SHIFT design is a whole a new chapter, we’re very proud at what we’ve achieved and can’t wait to start cooking again.

The team at Wimpy Upminster has cooked up a fantastic way to say a massive Wimpy thank you to NHS staff at both Queen’s Hospital in Romford and King George Hospital in Goodmayes.

Over the last three weeks, they have produced and hand-delivered a very welcome feast of some 300 meals for the two hospitals and plan more deliveries next week.

Franchisee Berkant Okatan, who has been working with his landlord Dev Gill, also a former Wimpy franchisee, to donate and deliver the meals, said: “All the NHS workers are doing such a fantastic job and we wanted to be able to support them during these difficult times.

“Many NHS staff come in here anyway, so we thought it was a lovely way to say thank you and take Wimpy to them at a time when they can’t come to us. The feedback since we started has been amazing and it has been an absolute pleasure, we’ll certainly keep it up as long as we can.”

Wimpy opened its doors in Orpington on Easter Monday (April 13) for the first time in 35 years.

Due to the current coronavirus ‘lockdown’ it will be offering a takeaway service from its new High Street premises and home delivery services via Deliveroo.

Joint franchisee Nico Sokoli, an experienced chef and manager, will be running the new Wimpy operation.

He said: “We’re thrilled and delighted to be bringing Wimpy back to Orpington. Obviously it won’t be the big grand opening that we had initially planned, but we think providing a takeaway and home delivery service for local people is really important right now.

Nico and his business partner Florenc Sokoli already own and operate two other Wimpys in Welling and Strood.

Wimpy Strood re-opened its doors this November, after a major refurbishment to Wimpy’s smart new SHIFT interior design.

The restaurant, which can seat up to 62 diners, is under new management and employs six staff. Work has included completely revamping the customer seating area with new furniture, the new colour scheme and lighting, and redeveloping the toilets.

Among the improvements are the installation of USB charging points in the new booth areas and the introduction of a new till system to speed up ordering times.

To coincide with the opening, Wimpy Strood is also launching a new home delivery service, working with Just Eat, Uber Eats and Deliveroo.

Wimpy UK has launched its first ever staff reward scheme, recognising the achievements of staff employed across its 69 restaurants nationwide.

Wimpy Icons rewards special success in four categories: Ability & Skill; Behaviour & Attitude; Customer Care; and Moments That Matter. Each month Wimpy employees, from kitchen staff to front-of-house, will be eligible to be nominated for an award by their manager. If they win, they will be given a unique pin badge to wear which reflects their success, as well as a £50 voucher of their choosing.

Wimpy General Manager, Chris Woolfenden, said: “This November, we are excited to launch a scheme that allows all restaurant staff the opportunity to be rewarded by the Wimpy brand and literally wear their achievements with pride.

Wimpy UK has adopted the European Chicken Commitment (ECC). This decision builds on our stated commitment to recognise the importance of higher welfare standards for chickens and also underlines our desire to source food sustainably.  

By signing up to the ECC we commit to exclusively sourcing 100% of our chicken from suppliers who meet or exceed the standards set out in the ECC by 2026.

All chicken products currently on our Wimpy menu are sourced from an approved, reputable supplier and meet current EU animal welfare laws and regulations.

This move further underlines our commitment to animal welfare and follows our decision in January 2018 to only use free range eggs for all our own label products on the menu.

Sauce lovers are in for a treat as Wimpy launches its iconic own-brand Wimpy Special Sauce and Wimpy Tomato Ketchup onto the retail market for the first time. The 500ml bottles are available to buy in the majority of Wimpy restaurants this year.

Wimpy General Manager, Chris Woolfenden, said: “Our Special Sauce and Ketchup have added the proverbial ‘icing on the cake’ to our breakfasts, burgers and grills for decades. Customers are always asking why they can’t buy a bottle and we finally decided it was time offer them as an early Christmas treat.

“We love the fact we’re extending the Wimpy brand into peoples’ homes and believe that with such a great heritage behind us, we’ll soon be a kitchen staple, giving everyone the chance to enjoy a taste of Wimpy whenever they want to.”

Launched in 1989 with a secret recipe, over 25,000 litres of Wimpy Special Sauce are used in the UK’s casual dining chain restaurants every year, while Wimpy Tomato Ketchup has been a true family favourite since day one, with more than 35,000 litres used in Wimpy’s UK restaurants every year.

All own label Wimpy products and all shell eggs supplied through the Wimpy distribution channel are now free range.  Wimpy further committed to switching to cage-free alternatives on the remaining small number of non-own label products that contain egg ingredients on its menu. This will be in place by 2025 at the latest but continues to work closely with its third party suppliers in order to achieve this change at the earliest opportunity.