McDonald’s franchisee Eddie battles on

Eddie Leligdowicz, the owner of the Macclesfield McDonald’s franchise and a dozen more throughout Cheshire and North Staffordshire has spoken out after his restaurants were forced to close their dining areas due to coronavirus.

The changes mean that all McDonald’s restaurants are now drive-thru, takeaway and home delivery only.

The 58-year-old, from Newcastle, said: “All of my stores are affected by the changes and we are following guidelines in terms of social distancing and making it safe for customers to still use the restaurants.We want to make it easy for customers to use the restaurants at their convenience so our drive-thrus are still open, takeaway is still available and so is McDelivery, which is still working well for us.”

“We are encouraging cashless payments and trying to make the best of the situation. We are following social distancing so the seating areas have been cordoned off and all dining areas are closed.”

“People can come in and order food to take out or they can use our mobile app to order and then pick it up from the restaurant. We’ve put social distancing spaces on the floor so people have an idea of where it is safe to stand when collecting or ordering food to ensure customers are one to two metres apart. So that it is a safe environment for people.”

Eddie is responsible for McDonald’s restaurants in Macclesfield, Congleton, Sandbach, Crewe, Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle employing a combined workforce of 1,650.

He went on: “I’m a business owner, lots of business owners are worried because these are unnerving times for everybody concerned. Sales are not as strong as they normally would be and no doubt there will be some sort of financial implications.”

“But we’ve had a consistent flow of customers and the suppliers have been fantastic, we’ve got everything coming through and there are no shortages on food items. It just shows you the resilience of suppliers and service providers.”

“No members of staff have had any reduction in their hours. We’re taking it day by day and hoping we can stay open for customers as long as it is sensible and without causing any danger to anybody. We will stay open as long as we can. We will listen to government guidelines, McDonald’s and health organisations. We’re in the hands of the experts.”

And Eddie says he is looking forward to the day these new restrictions can be lifted.

He added: “Our regulars have been very understanding about the changes and they understand why we are doing it. I look forward to getting rid of these restrictions and welcoming people back in to the dining areas when this is all behind us. I’ll be happy to get back to normal.”