Congratulations to our Corporate Patron, McDonald’s who are celebrating 30 years since the opening of its first restaurant in Northern Ireland.
Since opening its Bradbury Place restaurant in 1991, McDonald’s has grown to employ over 3,200 staff at its 33 restaurants across NI, operated by seven local franchises. A further 4,000 jobs are supported through its local supply chain here.
McDonald’s contributes over £100 million to the NI economy every year, with over £26 million spent directly with local farmers for produce such as beef and milk, as well as sourcing from local suppliers including Dawn Meats, Huhtamaki, Kerry Group and Moy Park.
The business also invests in a wide range of charitable and community initiatives, including its flagship grassroots football partnership with the Irish Football Association. The partnership recently celebrated a major milestone, having delivered 250,000 hours of free coaching, fun and games to 75,000 children in NI through the Fun Football Programme.
Commending McDonald’s for the “significant impact” it has had on the local economy and communities across NI over the past 30 years, First Minister, Paul Givan MLA said:
“It’s a pleasure to celebrate the 30th anniversary of McDonald’s restaurants in NI. This is a global brand that makes a real difference to local lives. I’m pleased that many of NI’s high-quality products are used in McDonald’s restaurants right across the globe, highlighting all that is good about our local produce. I applaud McDonald’s for their commitment to local sourcing and for the ongoing support that they give to local agri-food processors.”
“NI’s food and drink sector contributes £2.6 billion to Gross Value Added and has a total impact of around £4.9 billion to our economy, supporting a workforce of 113,000 jobs. It is not in our economic interest to have our local suppliers disadvantaged, and everything continues to be done to ensure no additional burdens will be placed on local companies negatively affecting their competitiveness.”
A franchisee in NI for almost 30 years, John McCollum operates seven of McDonald’s restaurants in NI including the restaurant in Newry said:
“Our restaurants across NI are brimming with superb talent. Our crew is made up of outstanding individuals of all ages and from all backgrounds, all working as a team to ensure our customer has a brilliant experience every time they visit a restaurant, drive-thru or order a delivery from us.”
“As a business, we’re passionate about where our food comes from and we celebrate our commitment to our suppliers in NI, who play a critical role in producing some of our most iconic menu items and building trust in the quality and provenance of McDonald’s food. It’s thanks to them that our customers in NI can enjoy great food from local farmers and producers, produced to an exceptionally high standard, just around the corner.”
“As franchisees and crew, our greatest privilege is feeding and fostering the local communities in which we operate our restaurants be that through supporting local on-the-ground causes and initiatives, our daily litter picks, our Fun Football Programmes with the Irish FA or simply welcoming the same familiar local faces through our doors, week in week out.”