McDonald’s to beef up its business

THEIR menus might raise questions about diet and nutrition, but there is no doubting the health of their finances.

McDonald’s Restaurants of Ireland yesterday announced major expansion plans, promising 280 permanent and part-time jobs this year as part of an investment of €9.5 million.

McDonald’s serves around 150,000 people a day in its Irish restaurants, equivalent to more than 54 million a year.

As well as opening the new outlets, the funding will go towards refurbishing existing restaurants and expanding the company’s McCafé sandwich and coffee bars.

The first of the new restaurants was opened at the Mahon Point shopping centre in Cork last week. Two more McDonald’s outlets are due to open in Dundrum and Lucan in Dublin and in Arklow, Co Wicklow, before the end of the year.

Marcus Hewson, managing director of McDonald’s Restaurants of Ireland, said the new restaurants signal the company’s ongoing commitment to local communities around the country.

“We are recruiting employees for a wide range of jobs, from part-time positions through to management positions, and offer great flexibility in terms of working hours and indeed outlets, as well as providing employees with great transferable skills,” said Mr Hewson.

“It promises to be a year of continued growth and job creation for McDonald’s in Ireland,” he said.

Of the company’s 71 existing Irish restaurants, 21 are owned by the company and the rest are operated by 30 separate franchisees.

The company employs more than 3,500 people and has more than 250 Irish business supplying them with goods and services.