Cover story
Joey Antwi-Kusi came to the UK from Ghana in 2010 on a scholarship to study for his MBA, going on to work at the Royal Bank of Scotland, Accenture and Deutsche Bank, as well as running a successful healthcare business. Based in Dagenham, Joey became a franchisee in 2023.
Hi Joey, tell us a bit about your journey to business ownership with McDonald’s I came to the UK from Ghana in 2010 as a 22 year old – fresh, ambitious and keen to build a future for myself, to make a mark, an impact and, 14 years later, here I am doing my dream job! When I first came to the UK, the first place I worked was McDonald’s. I was a Customer Care Assistant, and I loved it, and was quite good at it as well! For me, coming in every day, seeing the impact the franchisee had on the team there, it really inspired me. I looked at that and thought: “Wow! I want one of those!” My story is that of the customer care assistant who went away to learn a few new
skills and has come back into McDonald’s as a franchisee to try to make an impact! At the time, I studied finance, so I
went into a banking job, I really loved it and did quite well, and I started to run my own business, and saw success with that, too. But when I got to that point I said to myself: “You know what? I want to go back to the thing that inspired me right at the beginning of my journey” and that was McDonald’s. I get to be part of this family ... It’s a global brand and something I’m very passionate about. I knew that a brand that has been established for many years, was hugely successful, has operated in very different markets across the world – that it would basically prove a blueprint for success! It’s a tried-and-tested method! Yes, I could go and open “Joey’s Burger” somewhere else, but I’d struggle to get my first customer and build all that up from scratch. Coming into McDonald’s, however,
you’re successful right from day one. There’s a lot of support for franchisees … you get an understanding of the business, you get the training and get the support
and that’s really invaluable. With that backing, you can influence people, be a voice in the community … and I just couldn’t pass by the opportunity to be part of such a really powerful business. It works really well. And, for me, that was the way to go. I love it.
Where is your current McDonald’s? Any plans for growth you can tell us of? We’re in Dagenham in Essex. It’s a very lovely community. It’s very diverse. I love to see my local employees that are in the community and my customers as well. My dream is to grow, to have more stores
and to be in a position where I can impact more people, more customers and more employees. That’s my lifelong dream – to grow my franchise organisation from the one store that it is now, to somewhere in the teens or in the twenties, if that’s possible. It’s a big challenge. And one that I’ve taken upon myself. It’s going to be a lot of hard work, a lot of dedication and commitment, plus training and coaching the right people to support that. But I’m up for it, actually really looking forward to it!
Big plans! Is it fair to say that you couldn’t foster that breadth of ambition unless you had evidence that these things are realistically achieved within McDonald’s? Absolutely! And that’s really important. Seeing that some dreams are achievable makes it feel like it’s within your grasp. And if you work hard, you can get it. I’ve seen a lot of franchisees that have come in and done really well for themselves. It’s about following that blueprint, doing all the right things; coaching and training people, and doing right by our customers. I know that if I do these things, I put myself in a position where McDonald’s as a brand wants to grow with me. I’m really looking forward to that. It’s going to be tough, but I know it’s achievable, and I really want it!
That must take a lot of motivation! What keeps you going? My family has been a big inspiration for me. I’ve got three young kids: Jordan, who’s five, Leonard is two and Ashley is just six months old – born just after I got the store! What gets me out of bed every morning is wanting to give them a life where they
20 | The Franchise Magazine 2025
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