McDonald's enjoys 'strongest ever' year in UK

McDonald’s has enjoyed its “strongest ever” year in the UK despite the economic downturn, the fast food giant said today.

The impact of the company’s continuing programme of restaurant makeovers contributed to the double-digit like-for-like sales growth during 2008 and in the year’s final quarter.

Steve Easterbrook, chief executive of McDonald’s UK, said the performance meant the company had now enjoyed 11 successive quarters of growth in the UK, attributing the performance to record levels of investment.

Last year McDonald’s pumped £79m (€83m) into its restaurants, including a handful of new openings but mostly focused on revamping 178 sites.

Mr Easterbrook said that restaurants performed better after their makeovers, with sales levels picking up 6% in the first 12 months following a refurbishment.

Of McDonald’s 1,200 UK restaurants, around two-thirds have now been revamped, with the rest set to have been completed by the end of 2010.

The company has also seen returns from investing in equipment such as new coffee machines – each costing a “few thousand pounds” – which have allowed it to expand its drinks menu to include cappuccinos and lattes.

The roll-out of machines was largely completed by 2007, but more have been needed to keep up with customer demand.

“It’s delivering results for us,” Mr Easterbrook said of the investment.

“We sold 10 million more cups of coffee in 2008 than 2007.”

Like-for-like sales for Europe grew 8.5% for the year, compared with global growth of 6.9%. The company did not provide trading figures for the UK.