Our story
One shop in Dubai.
Then the world.
In 2000, A.K. Mansoor opened a fried chicken shop with an idea nobody had built a chain around: fast food that is halal all the way through. Twenty-six years later it is 475 shops in 43 countries — and 37 of them are here in the UK.
Start the storyTwenty-six years, told properly
Pick a year, or just keep scrolling.
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Late
1980sA 20-year-old lands in the UAE
A.K. Mansoor leaves Kerala for the Emirates at twenty. He is not in food yet — that comes later, and it comes from something he notices while eating out.
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1994
Learning to run things
He founds Al Bayan Cargo, and later Al Bayan Water. Two businesses built and run before a single piece of chicken is fried — which is why the shop that follows is built like a chain from day one.
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2000
The one that started it20 April — Chicking opens in Dubai
One shop. The world’s first fast-food chain serving only halal-certified food. At the time that meant building a supply chain that did not exist yet — finding growers, processors and certifiers who could hold the standard at fast-food volume.
“It had always been my vision to have fully Halal fast food served globally.”
A.K. Mansoor, founder 
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2019
On the shirt
Chicking becomes food partner of Kerala Blasters for the 2019–20 Indian Super League season — the brand going home to the state its founder left three decades earlier.
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2023
350 shops, 38 countries
Twenty-three years in, the count passes 350 stores across more than 38 countries — 80 of them in Kerala alone.
“Commitment. It is my secret. Commitment to my customers, my staff and my brand.”
A.K. Mansoor -
2026
475 shops. 43 countries. 37 of them here.
Chicking now runs 475 locations across 43 nations with more than 2,500 people, still headquartered in Dubai under BFI Management. In the UK that is 29 shops trading and 9 more opening soon — from Aberdeen to Bournemouth.
The UK estate
29 trading 9 opening soon
Halal isn’t a line on the menu.
It’s the whole kitchen.
Plenty of places will sell you a halal option. Chicking was built the other way round — the standard came first and the menu was built inside it. Every shop, every country, one rule.
“Chicking, a product of UAE, from UAE to the world.”
Certified end to end
Not a halal option on a mixed grill — a halal kitchen.
Broasted, not just fried
Pressure-fried for a crust that stays crisp and a bird that stays juicy.
43 countries, one recipe
Same spec in Dubai, Nairobi, Toronto and Croydon.
38 shops in the UK
29 trading today, 9 more on the way.
- 475+
- shops worldwide
- 43
- countries
- 2,500+
- people
- 26
- years halal-first