McDonald’s begins testing for potential 'limited' reopening

In a statement, Pomroy said McDonald’s had decided to close its restaurants temporarily last month to protect the safety of its staff and customers, but had recently begun looking at a ‘potential and limited reopening’.

“We have been listening to our employees and customers as well as engaging with government and trade bodies to help ensure we do this responsibly, when the time is right,” he said.

According to Pomroy, the tests are being used to explore social distancing measures for staff, Personal Protective Equipment options, and opening in a ‘limited capacity’.

He said McDonald’s restaurants would only reopen once the company was absolutely confident it had taken the correct safety precautions.

“Restarting our business is not an easy task even when reopening in a limited capacity,” he said.

“We have set ourselves some key criteria for reopening, all of which take time – first and foremost ensuring the wellbeing of our people and creating the right environment for them to return to work; secondly ensuring we have enough supply of fresh produce; and finally working in-step with government guidelines to ensure the safety of our customers.”

It comes after rumours began circulating over the weekend that McDonald’s was preparing to reopen a portion of its restaurants for delivery and drive thru. 

In the past fortnight, rival chains including KFC​​ and Burger King​​ have both begun opening select UK sites for delivery, having all opted to close their entire estate as a result of the ongoing Coronavirus crisis. 

However, McDonald’s responded to the rumours saying it currently has no confirmed plans to reopen its sites, but would update customers as soon as it did.