McDonald’s Q3 Financial Results – UK statement

Paul Pomroy, CEO McDonald’s UK & Ireland:

“We have enjoyed strong Q3 performance and I’m proud that, together with our franchisees, we can report reaching the significant milestone of 50 consecutive quarters of sales and guest count growth. In the current climate it might be easy to get distracted by external factors and the unknown, but we remain focused on what we are able to control - investing in, listening to and doing right by our customers and our people.   

“In these times of uncertainty, investment and innovation is more important than ever. We are nearing completion of our £650 million investment into our restaurants with our Experience of the Future roll-out, we continue to invest in British and Irish farming sourcing from over 23,000 farmers and our hourly-paid people have received an average pay increase of over 25% since 2015.

“This past quarter we have started to roll-out paper straws across our restaurants – investing in UK manufacturing businesses Transcend in Wales and Huhtamaki in Northern Ireland to do so, and have continued to grow McDelivery, which is now available in nearly 700 of our restaurants since we trialled the service in June last year.

“Technology is also presenting us with new opportunities. In the summer we saw 80,000 downloads of our app in just 24 hours in the aftermath of England’s World Cup knockout game against Croatia.  Last week we launched a new version - My McDonald’s App.  This now uses the latest geo-fencing technology, enabling customers to place an order and pay for a meal anywhere, for collection at the counter, straight to table or even at the Drive-Thru. We are confident that these new features will be well received by our customers.

“Investing in technology cannot come at the expense of a great experience, which is why we continue to invest in our people and increase our workforce, with more than 1000 new managers recruited in the past year. We know that our customers have an even better experience when our technology is complemented by hospitality from our people.    

“We have also stayed focused on what we know our customers expect from us - fresh, great tasting food made with quality ingredients, at an affordable price. Our Saver Menu continues to perform well, as does our McCafé offer.

“We live in challenging times but I am confident that we have the firepower and strength to continue to deliver for our customers and our people – by continuing to invest and innovate, but also staying true to what we know our customers love about us.”