Restaurant is franchisee Jon Betts’ 16th branch as his business grows in east London to cover Canary Wharf, Poplar and the Isle Of Dogs
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Jon Betts started his career as a crew member at McDonald’s – cooking, cleaning and serving customers – all while studying for his A-Levels.
After going to university, but discovering it wasn’t for him, he went back to his role at the restaurant.
“I had the intention of getting a proper job, but that never really happened,” he said.
“Instead I worked my way up through the ranks, becoming business manager for different sites in east London including Barking, Canning Town and Leytonstone.
“We used to have a restaurant in Trafalgar Way near Billingsgate Market, which opened in the late 1990s and I was its business manager from 2000 to 2004 – that’s also when I moved to the area to be close to work and I was very proud to do all that.
“I had a 31-year career in McDonald’s and spent the last five of that as vice president of operations and as a member of the executive team.”
from four restaurants to 16…
Having always wanted to start his own business, in 2022, the opportunity presented itself and Jon left to become one of McDonald’s franchisees.
Starting with four sites, he’s grown his operation to 16 across east London, with the latest of special interest to those living or working in Canary Wharf, Poplar and the Isle Of Dogs.
The single-storey drive-thru near Billingsgate – once managed by Jon – closed in 2014, with the expectation that it would be replaced a few years later on the ground floor of a pair of residential towers.
Those plans failed to come to fruition but, 12 years on, the brand has returned to the area at the base of Urbanest’s newly minted trio of towers, built to house students.
“I’m thrilled we’ve reopened, especially because I spent many happy years here,” said Jon, who still lives locally.
“The new restaurant is cutting edge.
“It has a décor scheme called Sunny-Side Up and we have 138 seats here for customers who want to eat in.
“We also have a drive-thru and we operate delivery out of the restaurant with three delivery partners – Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats.
“This was always a busy location for us and I know people have been keen for us to return.
“We have a queue of customers on the first day waiting for the doors to open so I’m hoping that’s a good indicator that our business will be very strong.
“Opening a new restaurant is always challenging and I’ve been privileged to do that in a number of capacities during my career.
“We have 120 staff employed here. We’ve recruited 50 and 70 are drawn from our existing restaurants and have transferred here.”
a natural step
Having overseen operations at 240 company-owned restaurants while at McDonald’s, Jon is no stranger to the business and originally set himself the goal of running 20 sites through his own company.
“It felt like a very natural step to become a franchisee, but to reach 16 has exceeded my expectations,” he said.
“The growth has been quite quick as the average franchisee operates about six or seven sites.
“As a business, I employ around 1,300 people, which is quite a responsibility and a privilege. It’s really rewarding to see people you hire go on to be successful.
“It’s a great company to work for because it creates opportunities for people. I started as crew and now I’m lucky enough to have 16 restaurants.
“There are 1,500 McDonald’s restaurants in the UK and 99% of our business managers started as crew members.
“Sometimes people join us while they’re studying and the job is a stepping stone to something else.
“But it’s also very rewarding to stay in the business.
“You learn a lot of skills that you can use in other areas of your life.
“We’re the biggest restaurant chain in the world and the largest in the UK.
“We offer a lot to our customers, although I understand sometimes the brand is polarising.”
the lure of the Double Cheeseburger
Currently top of the menu, alongside all the classics, McDonald’s is offering its World Menu Heist, offering British diners popular options from its restaurants around the world.
Top picks include the Big Rösti (from Germany), which comes complete with a hash brown and bacon, Paprika McShaker Fries (from The Netherlands) which come with special seasoning and Mac And Cheese Triangles (from the UAE) – crispy bites ideal for dipping.
Jon said: “Personally, I enjoy a Double Cheeseburger or Chicken McNuggets and Fries, although I watch what I eat now because of my age, so I don’t have the latter as much as I’d like.
“Another thing that’s important to me is that we’re good neighbours in the areas we serve.
“We do a lot of work within the local community to help improve the environment – litter picks for example.
“We also engage with local schools to provide work experience opportunities, which can lead to jobs.
“A large percentage of our workforce are young adults – it’s a privilege to often be people’s first job.”
key details: McDonald’s Billingsgate
McDonald’s Billingsgate is located at the junction of Trafalgar Way and Aspen Way and is open Sunday to Thursday from 5am to 11pm and 24 hours on Fridays and Saturdays.
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