Uncle Sam's founders sell the Brighton burger business after 55 years

Neal Tomlinson, who started Uncle Sam’s³ in a small Brighton takeaway in 1971, has sold the burger business and is retiring as he nears 80. The Argus^1,2 first reported the sale.

The Argus did not name the buyers, but says they are experienced and plan to grow the business, which now has 13 restaurants across the south coast on a franchise model. Neal and his brothers Paul and Ian have been running the first shop, on Montpelier Road, themselves.

Looking after staff was a condition of the sale, and the family turned down an earlier buyer over it. “The staff and franchisees have been with us for decades,” Neal told the Argus. “We can’t just pull the rug out from underneath them.”

The Montpelier Road shop will close, and its business will move to bigger premises at 33 Richmond Place, the old Pressure Point building, where the Uncle Sam’s sign is already up over the door. “The shop is going on, it’s just the location is changing,” Paul and Neal said. “This is too small for modern economics.” No closing date has been given.

Neal got the idea after eating his first American hamburger, in someone’s garden in the US. Rent on the first shop was £5 a week, and burgers sold for 19p.

Asked if he would stay involved, he said: “No way. Definitely. Been there, done that.” He thanked the staff and customers: “they’ve kept us going for all these years.”