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Mon 7th Apr 2025 - Exclusive: McDonald’s UK hires Mike Spencer as vice-president of development, plans 40 openings this year |
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Exclusive – McDonald’s UK & Ireland hires Mike Spencer as vice-president of development, plans 40 openings this year: McDonald's UK & Ireland has hired Mike Spencer, formerly of Pizza Hut Restaurants UK and Yum! Brands, as its new vice-president for development, as it targets 40 new openings this year, Propel has learned. In his new role, Spencer, who will report directly to McDonald’s UK & Ireland chief executive Alistair Macrow, is responsible for leadership of the circa 1,450 strong, fast-food brand’s development function including construction, estate management and acquisitions. For the last ten years, Spencer served as chief business development director at the Heart with Smart Group, which ran the franchise for the circa 140-strong Pizza Hut Restaurants across the UK, where he sat on the executive team and led the development function. In this role, Spencer was responsible for the group's property portfolio and led significant acquisition and reinvestment programmes on a national scale. Earlier this year, private equity firm Directional Capital paid £10m to acquire Heart with Smart via a pre-pack deal. Prior to that Spencer spent 15 years with Yum! Brands in senior roles within its development, franchise and operational teams including as chief operations officer supporting franchisees and company-owned restaurant teams across the UK and Europe. Spencer told Propel: “I feel proud and overjoyed to join McDonald’s. It was the single job that I aspired to have from a property perspective, from the combination of my background in property primarily, but also in franchising and operations. When I saw the job brief, I just felt that my whole career had been sort of developed and had built up over 25 years for this moment. I'd always admired McDonald's for its operational execution, for its excellence and operations. And you always wonder, how do they do that? It's been really exciting to go actually into the kitchen and see how it's done and where the magic is. And then the other piece was the continuous innovation of the brand in the UK. We saw it reposition itself in the early 2000s and how it's retained that element of distinctiveness, but also its relevance.” McDonald’s is currently in the midst of a large-scale reimagining programme across its estate with a target of 200-plus stores refreshed a year. The brand is also planning to open 40 new sites this year, with a plan to have around 200 new openings over the next four to five years. On the reimagining programme, Spencer said: “The majority of that work is actually going on in the kitchen to unlock capacity to drive future growth, and so additional menu of items can be added on in the future with confidence that it doesn't compromise the current execution. Obviously, delivery has become a very significant part of most people’s businesses now, and we are ensuring that we've got separate courier rooms so that the couriers can actually come into a dedicated area. We're putting in things like delivery lockers as well, so that they can access the food quickly, and therefore we retain that heat and speed element for the guest. We are also separating that customer journey from a dine-in customer or somebody coming in to grab and go, versus couriers in the same space. It helps that front-of-house experience, if we can provide both with different opportunities to access the food. We're planning to open 40 sites this year and then 200 restaurants over the next four or five years. We've started to look at a few more high streets. We've just opened in Brentwood in Essex, which has been a massive success. There are some opportunities in certain high streets to invest back in and help rejuvenate those communities, which have taken such a battering. There are also some fast-food guys who've grown very crookedly and perhaps too rapidly in the last four or five years – we'll be keeping an eye on those opportunities as well as they come forward.” When asked what’s top of his in-tray, Spencer said: “It is how do we build that pipeline for continued growth that will be around a £1bn investment and will create 24,000 jobs over the next four years. So that's number one. Number two is this reinvestment programme, and how we make sure that we implement that. I want to make sure that McDonald's retains that special experience that you get, the playfulness, the magic of McDonald's, really, and ensure that that is retained, in particular in the dining areas. I think there's a continual opportunity to make sure people are in an environment that they want to spend some time in. And we need to make sure that we remain relevant for our core family business, which makes up around 45% of our businesses. Are we making that unique and memorable? I've had 25 years in restaurants and quick service restaurants, and 15 years of that was as a franchisor, working for Yum! Brands, and then the last ten years has been as a franchisee. I now have an opportunity to bring both those perspectives together. We've got 203 franchisees – to have had the experience of what they go through, to invest their money behind growth, reimages and operating and managing a business, I think it allows me to hopefully provide some really good insights and opportunities to work alongside them for the future. So, I'm hoping that combination of operations, property and franchising together with being a franchisee and a franchise, helps put me in a good, strong position to contribute to the long-term strategy and growth of the business.” McDonald’s features in Propel’s highly anticipated International Brands report, featuring the 100 leading international brands in UK hospitality, and has now launched. This in-depth report explores company histories, leadership structures, site numbers and turnover figures – an essential tool for industry professionals navigating the UK hospitality market. The top 100 includes expanding brands from markets such as the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia. The guide will be sent out as two files – an introductory PDF featuring deep dives into international brands from Propel’s writers, and a fully searchable Excel sheet for easy access to key data. The analysis includes Matteo Frigeri, founder of Seeds Consulting, on the challenges of recruiting the right UK franchisee, Michael Ingemann, director of Think Hospitality, on why European brands chose the UK for expansion, and Meaningful Vision founder Maria Vanifatova examining the UK market for quick service restaurant operators. The International Brands report is available for £595 plus VAT, with existing Premium Club members able to purchase at a discounted rate of £395 plus VAT. Premium Club members will receive it free on Friday, 9 May at 9am. Order your copy today by emailing: kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com.
Wagamama becomes first restaurant loyalty programme to be available on Deliveroo: The Restaurant Group-owned Wagamama’s loyalty programme “soul club” is now available on Deliveroo, marking the first restaurant loyalty programme to be available on the app. “Soul club” is a unique platform where members can redeem free menu items and exclusive content such as a constantly evolving stream of recipe and foodie videos. From now on customers in the UK can link their “soul club” account with their Deliveroo account to earn points when they order Wagamama through Deliveroo. After placing an eligible order, customers will now be presented with the option to input the email address that is registered to their “soul club” account at checkout. Points can then be deemed in-restaurant. Emma Colquhoun, chief marketing and commercial officer at Wagamama, said: “We’re excited to launch our Wagamama loyalty programme, ‘soul club’, on to Deliveroo, marking a major milestone in how we reward and engage with our guests. Our commitment has always been to deliver great food and great value, and now, with this innovative partnership, we can extend that loyalty beyond our restaurants and straight to our guests’ doors. This is about more than just rewards – it’s about strengthening the connection with our customers, wherever and however they choose to dine with us.” Wagamama operates from 148 sites across the UK.
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