Fast food looks to the McFuture

This is the McDonalds of the future, and it is coming to Wolverhampton.

The UK boss of the global superbrand has been casting his eye over the latest revamp at the firm's restaurant on the Penn Road – the first to receive a facelift as part of a new wave of McDonald's undergoing a digital revamp.

As well as big touch screen menus it has computer tablets fixed to some of its tables for customers to catch up with the latest news or children to play the latest games.

Meanwhile, new and improved food preparation equipment can deliver a cheeseburger to a hungry customer in just 40 seconds.

And the restaurant will be among the first to introduce waiter service later this year, bringing food orders to customers at their tables – a move expected to create a dozen new jobs at the Penn Road outlet.

Paul Pomroy, chief executive of McDonald's UK, says the table service is part of the chain's efforts to compete with the more upmarket burger restaurants that have been launched in recent years.

Not that the biggest name in fast food is panicking: "Around 90 per cent of the UK population have eaten at McDonald's," he said. "We serve 3.5 million people a day at our 1,250 restaurants."

Mr Pomroy, who was only appointed to the top job in February, is out and about to see for himself how the chain is faring.

"When you sit here for a while you see the range of customers that we have. Earlier on today there were a couple of businessmen having breakfast with their laptops open, having a business meeting.

"As we get towards lunchtime we see more families coming in. One of the reasons we have introduced the multipoint kiosks is that people can browse the menu without that panic of being at the front of the queue at the counter. Adults like the kiosk because it lets them browse in their own time."

The large touch-screen menus at the new digital self-order kiosks also allow customers to tailor their burger it to their own tastes – deciding whether or not to include onion, ketchup or even that slice of pickle. They then pay by card and go to a set area of the counter to pick up their food.

"It's part of our move towards our 'made for you' service; customers can add their own twists to their orders," said Mr Pomroy. As well as keeping an eye on competition like the gourmet burger market, McDonald's is relying on its network of franchisees – the local businessmen who run 70 per cent of its restaurants – to keep its finger on the pulse of consumer trends, feeding back information on what customers like and what they don't.

And McDonald's 'wants to be part of the discussion' about obesity in the UK. Mr Pomroy said: "We need to keep telling our story of quality produce, like our organic coffee and milk. We have taken half the salt out of our Happy Meals over the last 10 years, reduced the sugar."

"We've also introduced smaller water bottles for children, half the size of the ordinary bottles, so they are easier for children to drink from."

Fruitizz, a new fruit drink made with carbonated water, introduced two years ago, was dropped at Christmas. Customers didn't want it and it was replaced with the water, said Mr Pomroy.

"We are also looking at enlarging our vegetarian range, while in some areas people say our food is not spicy enough. We are looking at these things all the time." He added: "We are confident that the investment we are making will bring new and exciting changes to McDonald's across the West Midlands and the rest of the UK. We've listened to customer feedback and know we need to modernise further in order to move the McDonald's experience on, and remain relevant to the lives of the three million customers that we serve daily.

"Our converted restaurants like Penn Road will deliver a fast and easy experience, aided by digital and traditional ordering points ensuring we continue to be enjoyed by our customers." The Penn Road restaurant is owned by McDonald's franchisee Abdul Sirkhot – one of 11 he owns and runs around the area that together employ around 960 people.

"That should rise to around 1,000 by the end of this year," said Mr Sirkhot, a 33-year veteran working for the most famous name in fast food. He and his team run the restaurants and employ the staff, while the company provides the branding and supplies the food, drink and all the accessories such as uniforms that make a McDonald's distinct, as well as the huge marketing and promotions budget. Around 70 per cent of McDonald's 1,250 UK restaurants are run by around 150 franchisees like Mr Sirkhot, who also has restaurants in Longbridge and Merry Hill.

He is currently investing around £300,000-£400,000 in upgrading each of his restaurants over the next few years – the Penn Road one was more expensive, at around £500,000.

There he has expanded the size of the restaurants by around 30 more seats. It already serves around 30,000 customers a month.

As well as being extended the revamped Penn Road McDonald's has completely new decor, with a series of different fun food-themed graphics on the walls ­– such as ice creams, fruit, muffins and sunflowers that, on close inspection, are made of French fries. The walls are in bright pastel shades, such as the 'McDonald's green' or orange. The different wall colours and dividing screens subtly separate different areas of the restaurant, encouraging families with children to use one area, with its tables equipped with computer tablets and a digital play area, leaving other areas for adults grabbing a fast meal or business people holding a switch catch-up meeting over coffee.

Mr Sirkhot is spearheading McDonald's drive to modernise its stores – with the string of the new improvements set to be rolled out nationwide trialled at his Wolverhampton city centre restaurant over the last year or so.

He is also working with the McDonald's team on those plans to 'spice up' its menu over the next few years. And, like Mr Pomroy, Mr Sirkhot argues passionately that McDonald's food is high in quality. He points to the freshly grilled burgers and says, "No-one's using a microwave in here except for the porridge. We use fresh ingredients and 100 per cent British or Irish beef in our burgers, with just a little seasoning after they are cooked."

The investment in new food preparation equipment means the team in the kitchen can have a standard burger ready in 35-40 seconds after the order has flashed up on the kitchen's computer screen.

Mr Sirkhot said: "Technology has a huge role to play in all walks of life, including our customers' eating out experience, so the new tech we've introduced recognises the way people live their lives today. The response to the changes from my team has been very positive and they are enjoying the new ways of working."

Wireless smartphone charging is next to be installed. Meanwhile the new fitted tablet computers have proved hugely popular with customers. Mr Sirkhot said: "The two tables that are fitted with them are always the first to be snapped up by customers, we we are fitting three more on the breakfast bar area."

The digital conversion is being rolled out in other McDonald's across the area including Cannock, Walsall, Dudley and Lichfield. Meanwhile McDonald's is still expanding, adding more restaurants – particularly drive-throughs – as more extend their hours up to 24-hour opening.