The UK’s largest fast food chain, McDonald’s, has said it will open all of its drive-thru services in the UK by June, eight weeks after shutting down due to the coronavirus.
After carrying out operational tests for the potential reopening of its restaurants on a single branch at the end of April, McDonald’s has since reopened 15 stores in the South East of England for delivery only.
As of the 20th May, the restaurant chain will open a further 30 branches across the country for drive-thru, but car parks and dining areas will remain closed.
“As we get accustomed to the new processes and procedures, we will look to reopen more restaurants, for longer hours and reintroduce more menu items. But only when I am confident we can do so whilst maintaining the new procedures we have introduced for the protection of our people.”
Paul Pomroy, chief executive officer at McDonald’s UK and Ireland said: “Over the last two months we have worked tirelessly to overhaul our operational procedures to enable our teams to return to work safely and I am pleased to write to you the day before we begin testing our return to the UK and Ireland.
“In the last few days, updated Government guidance has been shared in both the UK and Ireland, which makes it clear that takeaways and deliveries can operate. Moving in step with Government guidelines, we plan to reopen all our Drive-Thrus by early June. We will keep the restaurant locator on our website updated as our Drive Thrus reopen over the coming weeks.
“As we get accustomed to the new processes and procedures, we will look to reopen more restaurants, for longer hours and reintroduce more menu items. But only when I am confident we can do so whilst maintaining the new procedures we have introduced for the protection of our people.”
As part of the reopening process, McDonald’s has introduced a number of operational changes to ensure the health and safety of its staff and customers. This includes the introduction of Perspex screens in key areas, a reduced kitchen staff and updated hygiene and cleanliness training for employees.
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
