Greater Manchester’s first Chick-fil-A planned for Ashton

Greater Manchester’s first Chick-fil-A drive-thru could soon be built in Ashton-under-Lyne. The former home of Pizza Hut in Snipe Retail Park has been empty for more than a year.

The pizza chain was one of 68 sites that shut in October 2025 due to financial struggles. Now, there are plans to tear down part of the vacant restaurant and replace it with the new drive-thru.

The developer, CBRE Investment Management, which manages the Hampshire County Council Pension Fund, intends to lease the site to Chick-fil-A once it is complete.

Chick-fil-A is an American fast-food restaurant chain that specialises in fried chicken sandwiches and other chicken-based meals. If approved, it would be the first Chick-fil-A restaurant to come to Greater Manchester. 

Their other UK locations include London, Leeds and Liverpool as well as two others in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

In order to do this, a part-demolition of the existing building is required to make the building fit the needs of the new tenant. Some of the surrounding car park will also be removed to facilitate the extension and the creation of a two-lane drive-thru around the building.

This will result in the loss of 53 standard parking spaces. But the overall parking provision comprises 47 car parking spaces.

Access to the new restaurant would be through the car park of Snipe Retail Park, located off Manchester Road. Developers say the opening of the Chick-fil-A will represent an investment in an empty property and see the creation of part-time and full-time jobs.

The site has always been used as a fast-food restaurant, opening as a McDonald’s in 1995. It was later turned into a Pizza Hut, which it remained until 2025.

Planning papers read: “The proposed development will bring a vacant restaurant unit back into active use through its refurbishment, extension and conversion to a modern drive-through restaurant. 

“The site has operated as a food and drink use for approximately 30 years and is located within the established commercial environment of Snipe Retail Park, making it an appropriate and sustainable location for the proposed development.”