McDonald's contributes millions to the Milton Keynes economy, special 50th birthday report shows

The research suggests McDonald’s contributes a whopping £801.4 million to South East, employing more than 26,000 people.

And in Milton Keynes alone, the company employs more than 1,300 people.

Now, to celebrate its 50th birthday in the UK, McDonald’s has commissioned an independent economic report, which reveals the incredible scale of the contribution the business and its suppliers have made to the area..

Without including its supply chain, in 2023 alone, McDonald’s direct economic contribution across the South East totalled approximately £401.2m, with the 175 restaurants directly employing 22,240 people.

Despite the turbulence of the last five years, with many businesses facing challenging times, McDonald’s has continued to invest in local towns and cities across the UK, where restaurants are often at the heart of the community.

The ‘McDonald’s at 50’ report, was produced to understand the value McDonald’s has added to the UK economy, local communities, its employees, customers and suppliers since it first started operating in the UK.

It looks at McDonald’s significant contribution to the UK’s cities, through jobs created in restaurants and the wider economic impact through its supply chain.

In addition to restaurant jobs, the South East is home to one of McDonald’s biggest suppliers; Tropicana in Reading, which supplies fruit juice to all UK restaurants. Through partners, such as Tropicana, - and the wider induced effects of its operations and supply chain – McDonald’s contributes a further £400.3 million per annum to the South East economy and 4,430 extra jobs.

The report finds that overall, the business and its supply chain is estimated to be worth more than £7.25 billion annually to the UK economy – and that over the past 50 years, the total economic contribution is £94.45 billion, with £51.56 billion spent with UK supply chain businesses.

McDonald’s believes in playing an active role in the local communities in which it operates and through its programme, Makin’ It, in partnership with BBC Children in Need, is committed to partnering every restaurant across the UK with youth services.