Burger King and McDonald’s both announce further reopenings
Burger King will reopen a further 72 locations on Monday (18 May); and McDonald's, which is set to reopen its first 15 sites today (13 May) for delivery, will open another 30 next Wednesday (20 May).
Both chains closed their entire estates back in March as a result of the Coronavirus lockdown.
Speaking yesterday (17 May) on Good Morning Britain, Burger King UK chief executive Alasdair Murdoch revealed the fast food chain plans on opening "20 or so" more restaurants per week going forward.
Burger King, which has 550 locations across the country, begun a phased reopening of its UK estate last month.
Meanwhile, McDonald’s UK CEO Paul Pomroy released a statement yesterday saying the chain was aiming to have all of its drive-thru restaurants reopen by early June.
“There has been an incredible response to news of our reopening and we know many of you are eager for us to extend our reopening plans at a faster pace,” he said.
“The wellbeing of our employees, suppliers and delivery partners’ couriers is my top priority and we will only extend our plans at a pace that enables us to create a safe working environment for our teams.”
For the first week of operations, all reopened McDonald’s sites will only be available on a delivery-only basis exclusively via UberEats, with orders capped at £25.
Drive-thru will be launched, where possible, across the majority of reopened restaurants from next Wednesday.
New safety measures put in place by McDonald’s include fewer people in the kitchen and service areas; serving a reduced menu over reduced hours; and contactless thermometers available to check the temperatures of staff when they arrive for each shift.
Perspex screens will also be added to key locations in the kitchen and service areas; protective equipment including gloves and face masks will be worn; and there will be additional training on cleanliness practices.
In his statement, Pomroy asked customers to be patient as service may be slower than usual. and he warned customers to expect long queues.
He also promised that as the business grew accustomed to the new processes and procedures, he would look to reopen more restaurants with longer hours, and reintroduce more menu items.
However, he caveated this by saying he would only do so when he was confident it could be done whilst maintaining the new procedures introduced to protect staff.
