Taco Bell

About Taco Bell

Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast-food restaurants founded in California, in 1962, by Glen Bell, serving a variety of Mexican-inspired foods. PepsiCo purchased Taco Bell in 1978 and later spun off its restaurants division as Tricon Global Restaurants, which later changed its name to Yum! Brands. It now has more than 7,000 restaurants, including circa 136 in the UK. The UK was the first European country with a Taco Bell, in 1986, but all had closed by the mid-1990s apart from armed services-only restaurants at RAF Mildenhall and Lakenheath.

In the late 2000s, Yum! Brands announced that it was reopening Taco Bell locations in the UK as part of a large planned expansion into Europe, the first new opening being at Lakeside Essex in 2010. In August 2022, Taco Bell opened its 100th UK site, in Spalding, Lincolnshire, in partnership with franchisee Adil Group. In February 2024, Taco Bell opened its first motorway services site, in partnership with Welcome Break, at the South Mimms Services at Junction 23 on the M25.

In May 2024, Scott Mezvinsky, managing director of Taco Bell, said the UK is one of four priority markets being targeted for the brand’s growing global presence. That same month, Hertfordshire franchisee Soul Foods Group opened Taco Bell’s first fully digital restaurant, in the Canadian city of Toronto.

In October 2024, Taco Bell opened its first equity-owned restaurant in the UK, at Anglia Retail Park in Anglia Parkway, Ipswich, which has since been followed by several more. Ian Cranna, general manager of Taco Bell UK & Europe, said: “We’ve been looking to open this site for two years and have been working on it for the past few months. The team have done an incredible job and this is just the beginning.”

In December 2024, Taco Bell launched a new beverage concept in the US called Live Más Café. In May 2025, Taco Bell partnered with Applegreen to launch the brand in Ireland, with the first site launching in September, at Applegreen’s site in Dunshaughlin, in County Meath, near Dublin.

By the summer of 2025, Taco Bell had opened eight equity stores, and Cranna said “many more” were to follow. He added: “We’re thrilled to expand Taco Bell into more areas across the UK, which demonstrates our confidence in the market and sets the stage for future growth opportunities. We’re seeing terrific sales growth and brand momentum, proving there is a real hunger for expansion.”

In March 2026, Taco Bell franchisee Campana said it is planning a “major rollout” across the UK after securing a new eight-figure funding package from HSBC UK. Campana operated 23 Taco Bell locations across the south west, Wales and the Midlands at the time and said the new funding will accelerate its expansion plans, with six new sites due to open across these regions in the coming months. Following these, the business plans to scale up to 12 new restaurants a year, building a portfolio of 50-plus Taco Bell sites in the UK by 2029.

The following month, Taco Bell said it is set to open its first site in Northern Ireland, at the Applegreen services on the M1, heading toward Belfast. In May 2026, Taco Bell opened its first site in a UK railway station, having partnered with One Retail, the specialist retail sector of Compass Group UK & Ireland, for the outlet at Birmingham New Street station.

Why franchise with Taco Bell

• ✓Taco Bell has multiple franchise opportunities and is committed to guiding franchisees every step of the way. Its concepts are food court, high street and drive-thru. The estimated investments are £250,000-£300,000 (food court), £400,000 (high street) and £600,000-£1m (drive-thru). Taco Bell will provide a list of banks/ financing institutions that are willing to help with payments. Franchisees will complete eight weeks of restaurant training, and afterwards, be offered all the support needed to grow the business and achieve success.
• ✓Even after opening, the company will still be in connection through various seminars, meetings, and forums. An ideal franchisee will have a background in multi-unit operations, experience in training a team, be financially capable to support operations and have the desire to grow their business. The franchise agreement does not provide territorial protection or exclusivity for franchisees, although the franchisor may grant such rights in separate transactions or by policy on a temporary basis.
• ✓Taco Bell does not offer renewal rights under the franchise agreement, but the franchisor has an expiration policy, subject to modification or cancellation at any time, under which it might agree to enter into a new agreement with franchisees, with a term ranging from 10 to 25 years, depending on the type of restaurant and the required asset upgrade.