Familiar face celebrates serving people for 45 years at McDonald's in Central Milton Keynes
A woman whose face is known to tens of thousands of McDonald’s customers is celebrating 45 years of working there this week.
Petra started work at McDonald’s in centre:mk in 1979, when the shopping building first opened.
And she has been an integral part of the team ever since, say her bosses.
She was presented with a bunch of flowers this week to mark the occasion, while centre:mk bosses paid tribute to her on social media.
Members of the public paid their own tributes too. One wrote: “A very nice lady. She goes the extra mile to help her customers.”
Another said: “Lovely lady...She always has chat.”
The centre:mk itself is celebrating its 45th birthday this September and has asked people to share their favourtie memories of the place over the decades.
A spokesperson for the centre said: “centre:mk has brought the community of Milton Keynes together in many ways over the years; from friendships made at first Saturday jobs to lifelong careers that started in the centre across everything from retail to management and guest services.
“It has brought people together for quick lunchtime visits and longer afternoons spent with ladies who lunch. You can’t miss the Christmas Eve ‘man dash’ panic buying frenzy when looking across the mall each year and we’ve served guests everything from their first VHS, to DVD and iPhone purchase.
"This was all possible from our ground breaking retailers, that stood the test of time from John Lewis and McDonald’s to Boots and House of Fraser - who were previously known as Dickens & Jones (who remembers that?). The centre has a huge range of shops that has developed over the decades to suit our guests' every need.”
The spokesperson added: “Some retailers we said goodbye to and look back on with warm nostalgia; such as the childhood favourite Woolworths - where many would go for a fix of Pic’n’mix, whilst the likes of C&A gave us our wardrobe staples and the Market Hall was the place for a bargain.
“centre:mk is as much a place of everyday normality as it is the heart of our city and at 40 years old it’s still bringing many special everyday memories to generations old and new alike.”