U.S. burger chain McDonald's plans to double the number of its outlets in Britain to more than 1,000 over the next 10 years, creating as many as 30,000 jobs.
The world's largest food service organization plans to achieve the expansion drive by franchising up to one-third of its British restaurants by 1996.Details of the growth plans were unveiled Tuesday by Michael Quinlan, the chief executive and chairman of the U.S. fast-food chain.
The company has opened 526 outlets in Britain during the past 20 years and employs 32,000 people, mostly teenagers working on a part-time basis.
"We plan to double that number in the next 10 years," he told an Institute of Directors' annual conference in London. "We're proud that over the past two decades the British people have elevated hamburgers and french fries to the same league as fish and chips among your national favorites."
British press reports published Wednesday took a cautiously optimistic line about the plans.
The Guardian, under a tongue-in-cheek headline, "McDonald's expansion that's hard to swallow," reported that many company directors looked as if they had heartburn when Quinlan announced the plans.
The Independent said the "Double order for Big Mac restaurants" was part of an extensive global expansion.
McDonald's opens between 900 and 1,200 new restaurants each year around the world and is hoping to venture into new markets, including India.
Quinlan, who started working with the company as a part-time mailroom clerk, said the growth plans offered numerous opportunities.
"On any given day, McDonald's serves less than one half of 1 percent of the world's population," he said. "That's not enough. We're like Oliver Twist - we want more."