Opening just ten days before Christmas, the new restaurant in Linford Wood has brought the total number of McDonald’s stores in Milton Keynes to nine, and it’s the seventh location in franchisee Ken Tomkins’ group.
The local team have developed and promoted more than 50 managers over the last 12 months in readiness for the expansion. The new store has created 130 jobs for the local area, including 37 full time roles and 11 management positions.
Joining McDonald’s fresh out of university, Ken worked his way up to Vice President before he took the opportunity to become a franchisee in Milton Keynes a decade ago, having moved to the city with his wife in 1994. He began his franchising career with two stores before opening the Little Brickhill store in 2013. By November 2018 Ken had six stores in his portfolio. He now employs just under 900 local residents. He shares an appreciation for McDonald’s approach to continuous improvement, which inspired the name of his business, Kaizen Restaurants Ltd.
McDonald’s launched McDelivery five years ago, which, along with mobile ordering and self-service order kiosks, has helped the stores ride out the pandemic by keeping customers fed during lockdown and reducing contact time when restaurants reopened with social distancing. The new store harnesses the latest in McDonald’s Convenience of the Future technology, including digital drive thru ordering and lifts which seamlessly transport food around the restaurant.
Ken has been heavily involved in the local community since he became a local franchisee ten years ago. In 2014 he began sponsoring Woburn and Wavendon FC, a partnership which has evolved to support over a dozen teams in 2021. Now, Ken and his group see their logo displayed on every one of the teams, and a growing number of employees joining from the football teams.
Ken said:
“McDonald’s offers fantastic career prospects for all individuals, from young people starting work as they turn 16, or university students, to parents returning to work and beyond. I’m delighted to be expanding on that with a new restaurant, and I’m looking forward to building more relationships with the people in and around Milton Keynes.”
