McDonald's Restaurants Limited

The overview

McDonald’s, an American icon and the world’s largest food service retailer, serves around 52 million people a day in more than 100 countries worldwide. A child of post-war affluence, the multi-billion dollar concern started life as humble barbeque shack on the famous Route 66. The family-run business was embraced by an emerging teen market with both an appetite for quick and hearty fare, and a disposable income to support it.

In 1954 the McDonald brothers, Dick and Mac, were joined by Ray Kroc, an entrepreneur who envisaged their quick-service dining model on the world stage. His enthusiasm for adopting a franchise model paid off: McDonald’s conquered America and went on to dominate the global restaurant market.

The company today

Filet-o-Fish was originally introduced to cater for Catholics who did not eat meat on Fridays.

McDonald’s is one of the biggest employers in the UK private sector, with a nationwide staff of around 85,000. The company spends in the region of £30 million every year making sure its staff is fully trained. In addition, global profits at McDonald's increased by 5% in the first quarter of 2012; as many as 2,400 stores globally will be revamped using this surplus.

Recent accolades support this dedication:

• Named one of the 25 Best Companies to Work for in the UK, 2011
• Ranked in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers, 2000-2011
• Achieved a ‘Big Tick’ (runner up) place in Business in the Community’s Responsible Supply Chain Awards 2011
• Ranked among Britain’s Top Employers 2011, with particular praise going to its working conditions
• Named as a Great Place to Work, Top 50 Best Workplaces UK, from 2007 to 2011
• Listed as one of the Times Top 50 Employers for Women, 2012

What’s the secret?

Every new restaurant has excellent survival prospects thanks to the vast network of business operations that make up the brand. This includes advertising, packaging, distribution and agricultural sources.

The corporation has also proven itself sensitive to customer demand over the years. The Filet-o-Fish was originally introduced to cater for Catholics who did not eat meat on Fridays. Craftily-located quick-service kiosks in stations and airports have also helped to increase revenue.

Recession-proof?

Craftily-located quick-service kiosks in stations and airports have also helped to increase revenue.

McDonald’s profits grew by more than one third in 2010, and it welcomed an estimated 25 million more customers through its doors in the first quarter of 2011. As families feel the squeeze, it seems that more are choosing the low-priced fare available beneath the golden arches.

The restaurant has kept prices steady and has widened its menu to embrace the specialist coffee market (it is now the biggest seller in Britain, overtaking Costa and Starbucks), with a nationwide refurbishment helping to attract these customers. The company has expanded its breakfast menu to help supplement rises in beef prices, and continues to grow even as other high street franchises are cutting back.

Salary and benefits

The McDonald's business management trainee starting salary is £18,500 to £21,500 depending on geographical area. (Positions in inner London are at the top of this pay scale, followed by those in the south east.)

Graduates are eligible for the quarterly bonus scheme after completing the company’s 20-week management development programme

Restaurant managers can earn up to £32,000, while operations consultants can make up to £51,000.

Benefits

• Six weeks’ holiday per annum
• Childcare vouchers
• Life assurance cover
• Annual pay review, based on performance
• Private health care cover for the manager and their family, after six months
• Company car or cash alternative
• Eight weeks’ paid sabbatical (every ten years)
• Employee discounts at over 1,600 retailers
• Meal allowance

Culture and values

For many, McDonald's represents everything about the American economic culture, something that engenders both praise and rejection depending upon who and where you are. Certainly, it is perceived as an excellent business model in terms of development and expansion. Being culturally aware enough to develop different menus and catering styles for different international markets - China and India being two particularly strong areas for the company - has given it a solid worldwide base. This, however, has been built on company-wide business principles.

The way McDonald's cleans, cooks and manages is the same the world over.

McDonald’s drives a consistent commitment to standards in all operational areas, in all of its stores, backed by the mantra, ‘quality, service, cleanliness and value’. It has streamlined and systemised the entire team process, perfecting the art of food service with speed and attention, and replicated it on a mass scale. The way it cleans, the way it cooks, the way it manages is the same no matter where in the world you are. The Big Mac, like it or loath it, tastes the same in Moscow as it does in Watford.

Even training has been systemised, and with some success. From the first ‘hamburger university’, in a store basement in Illinois, to the company’s status as a qualification-awarding body, McDonald’s has achieved considerable recognition for its staff development.