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First Morley's chicken shop sign to go on display

James W Kelly & Briohny Williams
BBC News
Morley's A brightly lit Morley's Fried Chicken takeaway at night, with red signage and illuminated menu posters in the window displaying various meal deals and special offers.Morley's
Morley's opened its original chicken shop in Sydenham in 1985

The sign from the original Morley's chicken shop is to go on display in the London Museum's new site.

The sign will be part of the museum's new Hanging Out display, which celebrates the social spaces where London's communities come together.

Founded in 1985 by Sri Lankan-born Kannalingam "Indran" Selvendran, who moved to the UK in the 1970s, Morley's began as a single shop in Sydenham, south-east London, and has become a common sight across many of the capital's high streets.

Shan Selvendran, Indran's son and Morley's chief executive, said having the firm included as part of London's history was the "most amazing thing that's happened to this business... and to a community that built us".

Asked what his late father would make of the museum display, Mr Selvendran said: "I think he'd be stunned. You live for this kind of moment where everything you've worked for and effectively what he gave his life for is being celebrated in such a prestigious heritage driven place.

"For us as a family, but also just as a community, it is quite honestly unreal."

London Museum Musicians Krept and Konan (far left and right) stand with Sydenham Morley’s manager Kannalingam Mahendran and his daughter Janani Nageswaran, with the original Morley’s sign visible behind them.London Museum
Musicians Krept and Konan (far left and right) handed over original Morley's sign with Sydenham store manager Kannalingam Mahendran and his daughter Janani Nageswaran

The sign was officially handed over to the London Museum by members of the Morley's team, alongside south London musicians and entrepreneurs Krept and Konan.

A Morley's store served as a backdrop for both Stormzy's 2017 song Big For Your Boots, and Krept's 2019 track Morley's Freestyle.

Also at the handover was Kannalingam Mahendran, Indran Selvendran's brother, who ran the firm's first Sydenham shop.

He told BBC London he was "very proud" of the firm's history and how it had expanded across the capital and beyond.

Mr Mahendran added that "everyone knows Morley's" and said he had become known by many people in the Sydenham area through working at the chicken shop over four decades.

Morley's A man, two children, and a person in a bear costume stand outside a Morley’s Fried Chicken shop.Morley's
Kannalingham "Indran" Selvendran, pictured with his two eldest sons (and a mascot), grew up in Sri Lanka

The sign will be on on display from 2026 as part of Our Time, a social space at the heart of the London Museum's new Smithfield site.

Dhikshana Turakhia Pering, head of creative programmes at London Museum, called Morley's an "icon of London's high streets" and "part of the DNA and culture of London".

She said acquiring the original sign had been high on the museum's wish list since the early inception of the Hanging Out display.

"[Morley's] evokes memories of after school hangouts and late-night stories for generations of Londoners," she added.

Large red sign with Morley's fried chicken written in white upon it

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