McDonald's Makes a Big Bet on the UK

McDonald's has decided there's a lot of room for growth in the UK and Ireland. The company, which opened its first British restaurant in southeast London 50 years ago, is planning a major expansion that will add more than 200 restaurants to the existing 1,500 in the UK and Ireland over the next four years, the Wall Street Journal reports. McDonald's says the $1.3 billion investment will create more than 24,000 jobs in the two countries. The company said the plan will include upgrading existing restaurants as well as opening new ones.

McDonald's said it would experiment with smaller-format restaurants, with a "renewed focus" on opening outlets in town centers, the Irish Times reports. Real estate expert Jonathan DeMello tells the BBC that rents in central locations have "come down significantly post-COVID" because so many restaurants went bust. He says that with conflict affecting business in many countries, McDonald's appears to be steering more investment toward stable markets like the UK and Ireland. (More McDonald's stories.)