Viral jacket potato phenomenon SpudBros is on its way to the Trafford Centre

The SpudBros tram van is heading to the Trafford Centre

Viral jacket potato phenomenon SpudBros is heading to the Trafford Centre for the first time, it has been announced. Brothers Jacob and Harley Nelson have taken social media by storm with their unique, heavily-loaded take on the humble spud, with huge queues wherever they pitch up.

Only last month the SpudBros team had confirmed they were eyeing their “dream location” at the Trafford Centre. At that time they said the cost of units at the mall was holding them back.

Now, however, they have confirmed that they WILL be heading to the Trafford Centre, amid plans revealed to rapidly expand across the UK in 2026. Although it appears it is only initially for a limited run, with further details on dates and locations yet to be announced.

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The brothers posted a video on their socials on Wednesday night, showing a little lad asking for their “last potato”. When they didn’t have a filling he wanted, the voice of Jacob was heard saying to the youngster: “I tell you what, we’re opening in the Trafford Centre soon.”

He added: “We’re going to be there for one week, we’re going to take the tram.” Hundreds of comments swiftly followed – most desperate to know the dates that the viral jacket potatoes will be heading to the shopping mall.

We have approached the Trafford Centre and SpudBros for further comment on the dates of the SpudBros visit. The Trafford Centre confirmed the news though, adding in the comments of SpudBros’ video on instagram: “See you soon then yeah?”

The Nelson brothers have had a meteoric rise to success with their SpudBros concept. They took over their father’s Hot Potato Tram van at the Preston Flag Market six years ago before taking their street food empire to new heights with a range of franchised SpudBros Express stores across the country, including in London, Liverpool and Sheffield.

They announced last month a deal with EG Garages will see a further roll out of 30 SpudBros Express stores this year.

Huge queues follow wherever they pitch while billions have viewed their TikTok videos as the #SpudTok phenomenon.

Sharing a video walking around the Trafford Centre last month, Jacob said: “We get asked a lot why don’t we come to Manchester? We’re in Liverpool, we’re in Blackburn, we’ve got shops around that area and I’m going to tell you why.

“We would absolutely love to come to Manchester, it would be absolutely awesome, especially in the Trafford Centre.”

But he then outlined one eye-watering problem that’s holding them back. He said: “The only problem is rent – and how much it actually costs to pitch up here, it is absolutely ridiculous. You ain’t talking like £15,000 here, you’re talking six figures.”

He went on to claim: “I’m pretty sure some of the food shops you know the rent is £250,000 – £500,000 a year just for the rent and that is absolutely crazy.”

He added that if they were going to pitch up at the Trafford Centre they would look at “a little section in Selfridges” or a kiosk like the current Boost juice bar on the main mall. He added that another issue they have is the size of equipment they need to bake fresh potatos.

He said: “We use fresh potatos so we need potato ovens, we need a lot of equipment to fit in there that’s why we go for the bigger shops, we want to make sure you guys are getting a really good jacket potato and the quality of the food is top notch, no frozen potatoes.”

He continued: “If we actually opened up at the Trafford Centre it would scare me a little bit in terms of how much rent it is, how much the overheads are. From a business, does it make sense to do it at this moment of time while we’re still building the brand and it’s getting bigger? I’m not sure.

“It’s a little scary thinking about it. Maybe we could do a little three or six month pop up.

“It isn’t that we don’t want to come, we definitely want to come to Manchester, it’s from a business side, does it make sense? I’m not sure.”

The Trafford Centre said at the time they’re “always happy to chat” to new businesses about retail possibilities at the mall. And it appears that has now happened with SpudBros.

As soon as more details are confirmed on the date and location for the SpudBros visit, it will be updated here.