McDonald’s has revealed which UK restaurants will open for delivery on May 13 after shutting sites due to the coronavirus lockdown.
The first 15 restaurants reopening for McDelivery only, from 11am on Wednesday 13th May are: Chelmsford Riverside, Chelmsford Westway, Ipswich Cardinal Park, Boreham Interchange, Luton Leagrave, Watford Hertfordshire Arms, Chaul End Lane, Luton, Beechings Way, Gillingham, Sittingbourne Retail Park, Gillingham Bowaters, Tooting, Dalston, Welling, Harrow, Luton George Street.
Fries, Big Mac’s and cheeseburgers will be available to order but there will be no breakfast menu at the outset
As announced last week, these restaurants will be opening from 11am-10pm and will have a limited menu on offer. Customers will be able to order a range of favourites like cheesburgers, chicken nuggets and Big Macs. Vegetarian options will also be available including veggie dippers.
McDonald’s are introducing a range of security measures including:
·Perspex screens and floor markings will be introduced in specific areas
·Additional protective equipment including non-medical grade face masks
·All employees will be asked to confirm they are fit and able to work, and contactless thermometers will be used to take temperatures on arrival at work for every shift
· Social distancing measures will be introduced for delivery and service partners.
McDonald’s will temporarily not be serving breakfast. The company said it will explore ways in which to help their employees safely change over menus and will reintroduce their breakfast menu as soon as possible.
Food will be delivered with the company’s partners, Uber Eats and Just Eat.
Paul Pomroy, McDonald’s CEO UK and Ireland said: ‘As part of our reopening planning, we have been listening to you and our employees, and we have worked closely with UK and Irish governments and trade bodies to help ensure we do this responsibly. We have deliberately taken our time, we want to get this right.
‘We have been running controlled tests to explore the safest way to reopen our restaurants. To give us all confidence in the new operational measures we are introducing to keep you and our employees safe, we asked our employees for their thoughts, have incorporated much of their feedback and will continue to listen and learn. The tests have proven successful.
‘Rest assured, we are working hard to reopen more restaurants, but I am adamant this must be at the right pace with the wellbeing of our employees, suppliers and customers front of mind. Thank you for your patience,’ Mr Pomroy added.
McDonald’s furloughed 135,000 staff when it shut up shop temporarily in March.
It’s distributed over 400 tonnes of food to charities and food banks around the UK and Ireland since the coronavirus crisis began.
Under government rules, food firms are allowed to operate as takeaway and delivery outlets under lockdown.
Other companies which have moved to limited store reopenings or delivery-only services include Five Guys, Nando’s, KFC and Burger King.
Chicken McNuggets will be included on the new limited menu
Pret A Manger recently announced plans to partially reopen as pressure grows for an exit plan from the lockdown ravaging the economy.
Their shops will open near hospitals and GP surgeries for delivery and takeaway services only.
But the high street bakery Greggs has postponed reopening 20 stores next week over fears of overcrowding.
Greggs said last week it was set to reopen some of its branches in the Newcastle area to test if it could operate without breaking social distancing rules, but has now changed its mind.