Business News ‘Mr McDonalds’ is a new patron By John Lamb
Douglas Wright - public school educated, music scholarship winner, chorister, promising cricketer - is not your archetypal McDonald’s man. Yet Doug has been a McDonald’s
devotee man and boy to such a degree you could even imagine that he would have the Golden Arch as the entrance to his home. And last year he won the highest
accolade in the global McDonald’s empire - the Fred L Turner (he founded the modern version of McDonald’s) Golden Arch Award in 2016, given only every two years to recognise the best McDonald's franchisees in their entire system. After 36 years, Doug is now the
proud owner of 15 restaurants across the West Midlands, employing more than 1,200 people. Doug’s business has become a
patron of Birmingham Chamber to further his extensive business links and widen his network. He says: “I hope I can assist small
businesses by offering some of my time to mentor them and pass on some of the key things that I have learned during my career. I have already mentored a new McDonald's franchisee and believe I can now give guidance and advice to existing businesses or those looking to start up a business. “I would do whatever it takes to
enhance Birmingham and to add to the vibrancy, vitality and success of the city and its businesses.” Doug, now 52, was adopted
when he was less than a week old by teachers Bill and Connie Wright. He was brought up in Durham
and when he was just six years old he won a music scholarship to the prestigious Durham Cathedral and became a boarder and chorister. The family moved to Bedford,
where he attended Bedford Modern school and excelled at cricket but disappointed academically,
company that is lean, efficient and truly customer centric. I employ more than 1,200 people and have created over 200 management positions in the past 15 years. “Our staff and management
turnover is around 15 per cent lower than the industry which I attribute to the benefits packages we offer.” We met at his Bassetts Pole
outlet, a flagship restaurant complete with ordering from touch screen kiosks and in-house tablets to surf the net. Soon customers will be able to order ahead from their smart phones. The father of two grown-up
‘Mr McDonald’s’ – Doug Wright
achieving just one O-level from 10 taken. “Clearly my public school
education would help later in my life but I now needed employment,” he says. “The day before I left school I joined McDonald's at the age of 16 and the plan was to spend the summer there. “But I felt I was onto something
very special and that this new way of dining would revolutionise the informal eating out market in the UK.” So a love affair with McDonald’s
began and he launched his career as a part-time cleaner on 93p an hour in July, 1981. “My planned temporary stay was
quickly converted into a full-time job when my O-level results came through. I knew that I had to forge a career in this relatively new UK brand and attempt to work my way up from the shop floor.” And Doug did that in style. In
1985, by the age of 20, he was appointed McDonald's youngest UK restaurant manager at the Oxford restaurant with a workforce of over 150.
But his life fell apart when a year
into his appointment he was involved in a serious car accident in which he broke his neck and was paralysed for over three months. But Doug defied medical experts and recovered to walked again in 1986. He rose through the acquisition
and construction teams and was granted the highest individual honour of The President's Award, given annually to their best ten UK employees chosen from a pool of then some 75,000 people. He gained several more company
accolades over the next four years. In 2002 Doug was granted a McDonald's franchise in the centre of Lichfield and he quickly learned the skills of running his own business. Four years later he purchased a
second restaurant at Bassetts Pole and has expanded every year since 2010. He now owns 15 restaurants in Lichfield, Sutton Coldfield, West Bromwich, Walsall, Solihull, Oldbury, Birmingham, Rugeley and Burntwood. He says: “I have structured a
children is proud to have been part of the drive to turn around the reputation of the McDonald’s UK in the early 2000s to re-establish itself as a market leader. He has an “insatiable desire” to
be the best. “Several of my restaurants have received McDonald's awards and accolades in the past three years including three being named Restaurant of the Quarter in the last two years. He is also a “huge believer” in
dedicating personal time to charity work. He was instrumental in setting up a Ronald McDonald House at the Children’s Hospital in Birmingham which accommodates up to 90 families a night and requires £750,000 to cover the annual running costs. He has now taken on the role of chairman of the board of governors for the house and continues to encourage his business to fundraise for this worthwhile cause. So, McDonald’s man through and
through but thoughtful enough to say: “I am honoured to employ so many people and to be able to have a positive effect on their lives. I am very grounded having started at the bottom of the McDonald’s system and thrilled to now lead one of their larger franchised organisations in the UK.”
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