London Mum Who Started Working At KFC As A Teenager, Now Owns 9 Restaurants

Angelina Mouralidarane trained as a doctor before giving it up to follow in her father’s footsteps.

Angelina (second from left) with her family and staff members(Image: Angelina Mouralidarane)

Angelina Mouralidarane, 34, recently opened the family’s ninth KFC restaurant just five days after she gave birth to her second child.

The former NHS doctor and her brother Chris, 29, own the franchise to a variety of stores within the M25, continuing the work of their father whose relationship with KFC started around 40 years ago.

Their dad, John, 61, who now takes a back seat and enjoys the fruits of his hard work, began working for KFC twenty years before he opened his first store in 2020.

His first three stores were based at Mitcham, Wandsworth and Peckham, although the original branch in Wandsworth eventually moved into the shopping centre.

Angelina, who lives just outside Purley, told MyLondon: “Without sounding biased, my dad was pretty good at what he did and he was offered the opportunity to run his own KFC franchise business.

“He started off small on his own and didn’t come from a particularly affluent background so this was his opportunity to build a sustainable, fantastic business that could move forward for the family.”

Angelina, who was around 14 years old when her dad opened his first franchise, could not believe her luck and was the envy of friends because she could have chicken whenever she wanted.

Angelina and her brother worked on the shop floor of KFC doing what any of the team members would do today.

KFC is a world famous brand known for its chicken

“So what started as a hobby and a part time job over the weekend has turned into me being here,” she proudly said.

Angelina’s parents always made clear that the siblings were not obliged to take up the mantle and run the KFC business as adults.

Angelina said: “Our mum and dad always made it clear that there was no requirement to come into the family business.

“So both me an my brother went onto to do their own things”

Angelina decided to train as a doctor for the NHS and ended up going through nine years of medical school training but even then she could not stay away from the family business and continued to be involved.

After two years working in accident and emergency the mum-of-two realised that she did not have time to follow both passions.

“I didn’t have enough time to both effectively. I worked in accident and emergency which took up a lot of time. So essentially the decision had to be made. I wanted to help people but I realised that didn’t have to be in health,” she said

Adding: “While I may not have had external training in business I felt I had transferable skills from the nine years in medical school and a different perspective on things.”

Five years ago Angelina followed in her dad’s footsteps and became a franchise holder, a passion which she now dedicates all her time to.

The number of stores under her wing rose from three to nine after KFC created new opportunities through clever and inventive new avenues.

Angelina said: “I became a franchisee five years ago and also one for a Pizza Hut delivery business and we then started unlocking sites in zone three outwards and went from three to effectively nine restaurants.

“The company experienced 300 per cent growth, all organically, which are sites we found and turned into KFCs all within London.”

The latest store opened four weeks ago in Richmond. Angelina is currently on maternity leave with her newest baby who is just a few weeks old and her two-year-old.

As well as the three original sites the family now owns KFCs in Putney, Addlestone, Thornton Heath, Epsom, New Addington and finally Richmond.

“For our stores its about people. Our vision is to create a sustainable business. So while with second generation we want to create a platform for there to be third and fourth generation,” she said.

“By growing our business we can create more opportunity for people to grow with us so I’m a strong advocate of personal development and education.”

Source: My london.news

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