Before McDonald’s

I was a director and shareholder for a group of marketing communication companies based in London, with offices and client operations around the world. We had young children and moved to Sutton Coldfield to have the support of our extended family. Spending a lot of time travelling made it difficult to find the right work-life balance.

My connection with McDonald’s

I’ve had the benefit of working closely with a wide range of corporates and global brands, along with experience of private equity. This gave me multiple obvious options when considering future investments. Someone suggested McDonald’s was looking for a different type of Franchisee to help move the brand forward.

What inspired me to become a McDonald’s Franchisee

I needed to change what I was doing in my life. I’d come to a kind of a crossroads. The more I learnt about the McDonald’s franchising model, the more I liked the opportunity and the more confident I grew about my transferable skillset and ability to make it a real success.

Top insight

The training and the process that you go through to become a Franchisee sets you up for success and puts you in a good place to really understand what you’re getting involved in. But what surprised me over the eight years I’ve been a Franchisee is just the amount of change and innovation you’ll encounter to evolve the customer experience. It helps you understand how resilient McDonald’s is.

My growth

I’m excited about what lies ahead in the next 20 years and about the prospects of how I can grow and develop my organisation. It’s allowed me to reinvigorate my career halfway through it and put me in a position to realise my future ambitions.