And they’re living their best lives – it’s the pleasure of seeing them having their careers and developing their ambitions that gives me a great deal of excitement and satisfaction.
What advice do you have for potential franchisees? What qualities should they have to work with McDonald’s? First off, you’ve got to like being with people! I’m in my 50s and a lot of the teams in my restaurants are younger people, so you’ve got to be able to tap into that excitement of youth and be able to work with them and grow and develop them, but you have to enjoy doing it. I’ll always say that this is a fantastic business for keeping you feeling like you’re young! To put that into context, we’ve got 2,500 people working throughout my organisation – and that’s a challenge! You need to be able to recognise and understand those people to know the business. The greatest success I believe I’ve had
is the people – the team I’ve grown and developed in my business. I’ve got five senior wellbeing managers who run four restaurants each – I’ve got 19 restaurants open already and I’m about to launch number 20 in Martlesham Heath! That takes a lot of looking after; the care and the development and the welfare of the people within them. But it’s a very, very fulfilling experience. So, I would say to anybody coming into it to open their mind to that journey – watching people develop and build their careers … it’s very exciting!
What are the standout moments for you as a business owner with McDonald’s? Something that particularly springs to mind is of one of my managers. Before joining us, she worked in a shoe shop and I remember interviewing her for the people manager job. She was in her early 50s at the time and said to me: “Carol, I never thought at my age I’d get the opportunity to do this!” That kind of thing, well, it’s the highlight of your week, your month, your year even! Being able to bring that to people’s lives, it’s phenomenal, isn’t it? And I could honestly tell you 10 stories like that! Also you get other opportunities, such
as – I’ve been to Chicago to the Innovation Centre of McDonald’s Worldwide. And to
“The greatest success I believe I’ve had is the people, the team I’ve grown and developed in my business. It’s a very fulfilling experience”
forums where you meet all these amazing women franchisees, all growing and developing their careers.
Have you found the brand to be a good fit for women in business? When I joined around a decade ago, It was obvious that there were only 12 or so women franchisees in the network, so I set up the McDonald’s Women’s Franchise Forum for the UK, which is like a community to support the women in the business – and those coming into it. The stage at which you’re generally
becoming a franchisee, you’re usually also juggling home, family, children, new challenges … and this is a business where you can juggle all that and still be extremely successful with your franchise. It’s not one of those situations – the ones you hear of too many times – where people pause their career to have a family and then never seem to get back to where they were – it’s not that type of business. You know you can do it all in McDonald’s; take your career break, have your children at any point you want. You’re not restricted at all, but you’ve got to have fantastic people surrounding you, that’s definitely the key. That’s why we set up the forum … if
you’ve got a network of women in the organisation, it means you can catch up and chew the fat about how your business is developing and what you might need advice on, etc. That network of women are extremely supportive to new franchisees, to existing franchisees, because everybody, interestingly, is at a different stage in the journey. They might be new. They might be a couple of years in, and growing their business, and they’re thinking: “How do I transition from one store to three?”, “How do I organise my time?”, “How do I organise my finances?”, “Who do I go to?”, “Which banking partner?” They might want to be able to talk to another female franchisee about anything.
It’s about representation, isn’t it? That is to say, seeing people like yourself reflected in business… Yes, and it’s the same when it comes to factors like who you are, what stage of life you’re at … McDonald’s is welcoming, it’s that sort of brand. For example, my partner’s a woman and that would never be an issue. When you’re going through the application process, it’s time to be very open about who you are, be transparent about your situation, your family, what your life is, who you’re with, about everything … but, with McDonald’s there’s no bias at all.
We know you’re passionate about developing others in the business, but how has life changed for you? Do you, for example, enjoy a work-life balance? Well, it’s nice to wake up in the morning and make your own decisions! So, for instance, if I want to spend a little bit more time with the family, then I think, okay, well, I’ll work in the evening tomorrow, but hey, that’s fine, that’s my decision. I’ve an amount of control over when I work – that’s a massive advantage. As with anything, I always say: “you get out what you put in”!
So, what does the future hold? What else could we expect to see from you? I opened my 19th resaurant earlier this year and 20th is under way and opening soon, followed by another this year which will be in Bury St Edmunds. That unit is going to be the first time the town has ever had a drive-thru restaurant. And, well, on we go! I mean, who knows what the future brings? The business is already in the family, since my partner’s middle child is actually my group HR manager! I’m hoping that, maybe one day, we’ll have a second-generation franchisee .... So, you never know!
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