MANILA, Philippines – The opening of the first Jollibee store in London shows that Filipino businesses can compete across the globe, said Philippine Ambassador to the UK Antonio Manuel Lagdameo.

Jollibee in Earl’s Court, London, is set to open on October 20. 

“Jollibee’s opening in London shows that Philippine businesses can go global,” Lagdameo said in a news release Thursday, September 27.

Lagdameo and around 7 Philippine Cabinet secretaries visited the first Jollibee store in London on Tuesday, September 25, said the Philippine embassy in the UK. The secretaries were in London for the Philippine Economic Briefing that aimed to convince British firms to invest in the Philippines. 

The Philippine embassy said that “Jollibee will be the first Philippine fast food chain to expand to the United Kingdom, blazing the trail for other Philippine businesses to follow.”

The embassy noted that “over the last 4 decades, Jollibee has grown dramatically from an ice cream parlor in Cubao, Quezon City, to more than 1,200 stores all over the world as of April 2018.”

Among the first guests of Jollibee in London was also British Ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce, who posted photos and tweeted his Jollibee visit. – Rappler.com