Jobs and People
People are at the heart of our business and we are proud to be recognised as one of the UK’s best employers. We strive to provide a working environment to suit everyone who works for us.
McDonald’s provides 130,000 jobs in our 1,400 restaurants across the UK & Ireland.
We are focussed on our people and committed to industry leading training for our employees. Our training philosophy incorporates both internal training programmes and externally recognised qualifications.
We pay over the minimum wage for those under 21, and over the national living wage for those over 21.
We are rated as a Times Top 100 Graduate Employer and a Working Mums Top Employer.
To find out more about our people, click here.
Did you know?
All contracts offered are permanent contracts regardless of whether the number of hours is flexible or has a minimum guaranteed.
When we offered our people the choice of flexible contracts or those with a guaranteed minimum number of hours, 80% of people chose to stay on their current, flexible contract.
Opportunities to progress are open to everyone – 30% of our current Executive Team started working as restaurant crew and have worked their way up the business, taking advantage of the training and progression opportunities we provide.
£43 million is invested in staff training every year and training opportunities are open to all of our employees.
18,500 members of staff completed one of our apprenticeship schemes and we currently have 700 apprentices.
We provide degree level apprenticeships in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University, investing millions every year in staff training.
Did you know?
80% of our packaging is recyclable and we stopped using plastic straws in 2019.
We have invested in wind and solar generation, which help provide green energy in our restaurants.
Delivery lorries are 100% powered by biodiesel and has been used for more than 10 years. 40% of the fuel is taken from cooking oil from our restaurants.
Community
We want to be good neighbours and make a positive impact in our communities. We believe we have a responsibility to the people we serve.
Like 90% of McDonald’s restaurants, a new restaurant in Ramsgate will play its part in actively supporting this community.
To find out more about the work we do in the communities we serve, click here.
Littering & Recycling
Littering is an offence. We are unhappy when customers choose to dispose of their litter irresponsibly. We do everything we can to encourage people to make the right choices when throwing away McDonald’s packaging.
We make sure bins are always outside our restaurants and work closely with local authorities and communities to tackle waste.
Our staff conduct 3 litter patrols a day 150-metres around our restaurants, picking up all litter, not just McDonald’s packaging. Our restaurant crews walk an estimated 3,000 miles a week completing litter patrols around our restaurants.
Additional examples of work in this area include:
- In 2022, we launched our biggest ever litter campaign – ‘Keep it Clean’ – resulting in thousands of bags of litter removed from the communities in which we operate.
- McDonald’s has worked with charity partners such as Keep Britain Tidy, Hubbub and LitterLotto to run innovative behaviour change campaigns to help tackle litter.
The Environment
At McDonald’s we want the best for our environment. To us that means constantly challenging ourselves to find ways in which we can use our scale and our people, to influence and drive change. We have made several significant moves to protect the environment and reduce our impact.
We are committed to tackling littering, reducing waste, and addressing the climate crisis.
- We have pledged to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040 across our entire UK & Ireland business and value chain.
- We are committed to sustainably sourced, quality ingredients, from local suppliers wherever possible.
- We plan to source all our packaging from renewable or recyclable materials by 2024.
- Over 80% of kitchen waste is recycled, which equates to 40% of total waste.
- We have been a zero-landfill business since 2020.
- All of our restaurants are powered by 100% renewable sources. Many sites supplement this with on-site solar.
Did you know?
McDonald’s were the first restaurant to display nutritional information on menu boards and we have done so for 30 years
We source our food from over 23,000 British and Irish farmers and 100% British and Irish beef is used in McDonald’s burgers.
Chicken breast is used across all our chicken options and all eggs on our menu are free range
We have added more choice in recent years:
- Porridge
- Salads
- Wraps
- Fruit bags
Fries can be swapped for fruit, carrot sticks or salad
72% of the Happy Meal menus are classified as not high in fat, salt or sugar according to the Government’s nutrient profile model
Did you know?
McDonald’s franchised its first restaurant in the UK in 1986
90% of our restaurants in the UK are franchised and operated by 195 local business people
We are always looking for hands-on, ambitious people who are ready to make a long-term commitment to our business and their local community. That is why we have a robust process in place to find the right franchisees and provide industry leading training and support
All of our franchised restaurants are powered by 100% renewable energy from wind and solar energy
We build all of our new restaurants with energy efficiency in mind, using smart technology to control lighting, heating and air conditioning, and energy efficient kitchen technology is used to further reduce our impact
60% of our modular new build restaurants are equipped with their own solar panels
Our food
We are passionate about our food and take care to make sure that what we serve is great quality and responsibly sourced.
Our goal is to help people balance great taste, value and offer a wide range of choices.
We recognise the importance of public health and share the collective goal of reducing childhood
obesity.
54% of our menu is now classified as non-HFSS (not high in fat, salt or sugar) and 89% of our
items in our core menu contain under 500 calories.
To find out more about our food, click here.
