McDonald’s contributes £832.8 million to the London economy – London Business News | Londonlovesbusiness.com

To celebrate its 50^th birthday in the UK, McDonald’s has commissioned an independent economic report, which reveals the incredible £832.6 million contribution the business and its suppliers have made to London annually.

Without including its supply chain, in 2023 alone, McDonald’s direct economic contribution across London totalled approximately £557.7m, with the 192 London restaurants directly employing 21,490 people.

Despite the turbulence of the last five years, with many businesses across the UK facing challenging times, McDonald’s has continued to invest in local towns and cities across the UK, where restaurants are often at the heart of the community.

The ‘McDonald’s at 50’ report was produced to understand the value McDonald’s has added to the UK economy, local communities, its employees, customers and suppliers since it first started operating in the UK. The new report was commissioned to mark McDonald’s 50^th anniversary in the UK and builds on economic data published five years ago.

It looks at McDonald’s significant contribution to the UK’s cities, through jobs created in restaurants and the wider economic impact through its supply chain.

In addition to restaurant jobs, London is home to one of McDonald’s biggest suppliers; Coca Cola, which supplies soft drinks to all UK restaurants. Through partners, such as Coca Cola – and the wider induced effects of its operations and supply chain – McDonald’s contributes a further £274.9 million per annum to the London economy and 3,455 extra jobs.

McDonald’s believes in playing an active role in the local communities in which it operates and through its programme, Makin’ It, in partnership with BBC Children in Need, is committed to partnering every restaurant across the UK with youth services.  The initiative harnesses the power of youth work to provide safe, welcoming spaces in restaurants and funds programmes to provide training, real-world experience and opportunities for young people.  Successful local McDonald’s partnerships include Spiral Skills (Brixton), Young Westminster (Westminster) and Reaching Higher (South London).

Franchisees and their teams go above and beyond to give back to and champion their local communities. Some recent highlights include a Fun Football Day in Mill Hill, a litter pick in Barking town centre with the local Mayor and supporting Ronald McDonald House Charities’ 35^th anniversary in the UK with house parties at Evelina, Camberwell, Tooting and Moorfields Houses.

McDonald’s Franchisee Craig Newnes, who owns and operates ten restaurants across North London and Essex, said, “Creating and sustaining jobs across North London & Essex is of huge importance to me, and the fact that we have been able to make a significant financial contribution to the area is something my fellow Franchisees and I are very proud of.

“We have so many opportunities available to young people and it’s great to see so many of them taking advantage and gaining qualifications while they work – there is no longer a need to decide between learning and earning. I believe in investing in my staff and helping to provide them not only with an interesting and enjoyable place to work, but also to give them qualifications that they can draw upon throughout their life.

“It’s also been amazing to see the impact McDonald’s restaurants are having across local communities. From community initiatives to litter picks and outreach programmes, our restaurants and crew are constantly thinking of ways to support their local communities.”

The report finds that overall, the business and its supply chain is estimated to be worth more than £7.25 billion annually to the UK economy (including wider, induced effects) – and that over the past 50 years, the total economic contribution is £94.45 billion, with £51.56 billion spent with UK supply chain businesses.

McDonald’s growth over the last 50 years has seen the level of employment supported by McDonald’s and Franchisees increase from one restaurant in 1974 to 94,600 direct employees in 2013 to 171,415 in 2023.