A city restaurant is celebrating 30 years serving burgers, fries and more to the people of Chester.
McDonald’s franchisee Jeanette Roe and her team are celebrating the pearl anniversary of the opening of the Foregate Street branch on December 19, 1983, the city’s first ‘Maccy D's’.
Jeanette, who joined McDonald’s as a graduate trainee manager fresh from university in 1981, became the franchisee of the Foregate Street restaurant in 2011. She also operates three other restaurants in the area at Chester Retail Park, the Forum Shopping Centre and Broughton Shopping Park. She employs more than 320 local people, 85 of whom work in the Foregate Street restaurant.
Since opening, the Foregate Street restaurant has seen a number changes, from a wider selection of menu options for customers, to a new restaurant design and layout. The uniforms have also seen a dramatic change, from the blue and white wide collared shirts and flared bottoms of the 80s to the more modern design worn by staff today, designed by Wayne Hemingway.
Jeanette said: “I’d like to thank our customers in Chester who have been loyal to us over the last 30 years, many of whom first visited with their parents when we originally opened, and now bring their own children and grandchildren. Of course, it’s quite a different McDonald’s now to what it was, with free WiFi, a wider choice of menu options and longer opening hours, but I’d like to think that the same customer service and exciting atmosphere have been consistent during that time. It’s been a great 30 years, and I’m definitely looking forward to many more yet to come.”
The first business manager of the Foregate Street restaurant, Paul Griffiths, now owns three of his own franchised restaurants in Merseyside. He said: “When we first opened the McDonald’s restaurant in Foregate Street, it was at a time when most customers had never been to a McDonald’s before. So much has moved on since then, from the creation of Happy Meals to Drive Thrus, and developments in the way we cook our food, but the one thing that has remained the same is the desire for great team work and McDonald’s encouragement for employees to progress within the company – which I am proof of.”
Let us know if you were part of the original team in 1983. Email newsroom@cheshirenews.co.uk or telephone 01244 606411.
