Revealed: How much McDonald's has boosted West Midlands economy

McDonald's, which is celebrating 50 years in the UK, commissioned research to detail employment figures, gross value added, indirect supplier costs and community work for cities and regions across the UK.

In the West Midlands the business employed more than 19,000 people last year including 3,205 in Birmingham and 645 in Telford.

Without including its supply chain, in 2023 alone, McDonald’s direct economic contribution across the West Midlands totalled approximately £373 million with the 135 West Midlands restaurants, including 30 in the Black Country and 10 in Shropshire, directly employing 15,065.

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.

In the West Midlands £70.3m was invested to build new restaurants or refurbish existing ones between 2018 and 2023.

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.

In addition to restaurant jobs, the West Midlands is home to one of McDonald’s biggest suppliers; Sun Valley Foods in Hereford, which supplies chicken to all UK restaurants. Through partners such as Sun Valley Foods - and the wider induced effects of its operations and supply chain – McDonald’s contributes a further £438.6 million per annum to the West Midlands economy and 4,245 extra jobs.

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.

The initiative harnesses the power of youth work to provide safe, welcoming spaces in restaurants and funds programmes to provide training, real-world experience and opportunities for young people. Successful local McDonald’s partnerships include The Youth Net in Stafford and The Brierley Hill Project.

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 £94.45bn, with £51.56bn spent with UK supply chain businesses.

The level of employment supported by McDonald’s and franchisees increase from one restaurant in 1974 to 94,600 direct employees in 2013 and to 171,415 in 2023.