Northerners have slammed McDonald’s after the fast-food giant revealed the 15 branches to reopen next week will all be in the south of England – and cars queuing for a KFC caused a major traffic jam in Wales as it resumes drive-thru services at dozens of branches.
As McDonald’s prepares to reopen its McDelivery service from 11am on Wednesday May 13, one KFC drive-thru in Swansea saw queues of cars ’60 to 70 deep’ today, causing major traffic problems.
It comes as KFC announced further openings just a day after 100 of its restaurants up and down the country opened to bring orders to customers’ homes.
KFC added today it was reopening drive-thru lanes at 55 restaurants that are already open for delivery.
However, as drive-thru lanes reopened at KFC, on Morfa Shopping Park, in Swansea, people queued for up to five hours to place an order, severely congesting a nearby dual carriageway and roundabout.
Pictured: massive queues forming for KFC, on Morfa Shopping Park, in Swansea, where one witness said people stayed for up to five hours
Pictured: traffic for KFC, on Morfa Shopping Park, in Swansea spilling out on to Brunel Way
Pictured: traffic for KFC, on Morfa Shopping Park, in Swansea today. One witness saw queues of cars ’60 to 70 deep’, causing major traffic problems
One witness said people were getting out of their cars to walk around and not adhering to social distancing measures.
People began arriving at the KFC around 11.30am for the 12 o’clock opening and were still queuing up after 3.30pm.
The witness said the cars caused major traffic jams ‘on either side’ of Brunel Way, leading to the retail park.
‘I did not witness any social distancing personally, many of the people who purchased a KFC meal were then pulling their cars up in the car park to eat the meals, many with windows down due to the warm weather,’ they said.
One of the McDonald’s preparing to reopen its McDelivery service is in Ipswich while the others are mainly in London and Kent. Three of the McDonald’s are in Luton and another three are in Chelmsford, provoking surprise on social media.
Twitter users were quick to react to the news with Northerners, in particular, expressing outrage over the locations chosen by the company.
‘So instead of spreading the stores throughout the UK you open only Southern stores with some multiple stores even in the same town? Senseless!’ one user, @KelEll said.
The selected restaurants will reopen for McDelivery only from 11am on Wednesday 13th May
Fries, Big Macs and cheeseburgers will be available to order but there will be no breakfast menu at the outset
McDonald’s tweeted back, ‘Kelly, we are working hard to reopen more restaurants and will keep you updated here as we add more.’
Kyle Thornton said, ‘As usual the north is forgotten about.’ While Kat Slyper questioned, ‘Why are they all down south is there something wrong with the north and Scotland???’
Others expressed amazement that three restaurants would be open in Chelmsford within a short distance of one another.
Northerners took to social media to express disappointment over the locations chosen by McDonald’s
Others expressed amazement that three restaurants would be open in Chelmsford within a short distance of one another
As announced last week, the McDonald’s restaurants will be opening from 11am-10pm and will have a limited menu on offer. Customers will be able to order a range of favourites like cheesburgers, chicken nuggets and Big Macs. Vegetarian options will also be available including veggie dippers.
McDonald’s are introducing a range of security measures including:
·Perspex screens and floor markings will be introduced in specific areas
·Additional protective equipment including non-medical grade face masks
·All employees will be asked to confirm they are fit and able to work, and contactless thermometers will be used to take temperatures on arrival at work for every shift
· Social distancing measures will be introduced for delivery and service partners.
McDonald’s will temporarily not be serving breakfast. The company said it will explore ways in which to help their employees safely change over menus and will reintroduce their breakfast menu as soon as possible.
Food will be delivered with the company’s partners, Uber Eats and Just Eat.
Paul Pomroy, McDonald’s CEO UK and Ireland said: ‘As part of our reopening planning, we have been listening to you and our employees, and we have worked closely with UK and Irish governments and trade bodies to help ensure we do this responsibly. We have deliberately taken our time, we want to get this right.
‘We have been running controlled tests to explore the safest way to reopen our restaurants. To give us all confidence in the new operational measures we are introducing to keep you and our employees safe, we asked our employees for their thoughts, have incorporated much of their feedback and will continue to listen and learn. The tests have proven successful.
‘Rest assured, we are working hard to reopen more restaurants, but I am adamant this must be at the right pace with the wellbeing of our employees, suppliers and customers front of mind. Thank you for your patience,’ Mr Pomroy added.
McDonald’s furloughed 135,000 staff when it shut up shop temporarily in March.
It’s distributed over 400 tonnes of food to charities and food banks around the UK and Ireland since the coronavirus crisis began.
Under government rules, food firms are allowed to operate as takeaway and delivery outlets under lockdown.
Other companies which have moved to limited store reopenings or delivery-only services include Five Guys, Nando’s, KFC and Burger King.
Chicken McNuggets will be included on the new limited menu
Mororists were pictured queueing round the block at the first Burger King drive-through site to open in the UK in Havantat the end of April
Pret A Manger recently announced plans to partially reopen as pressure grows for an exit plan from the lockdown ravaging the economy.
Their shops will open near hospitals and GP surgeries for delivery and takeaway services only.
But the high street bakery Greggs has postponed reopening 20 stores next week over fears of overcrowding.
The fried chicken chain said 100 of its stores up and down the country would be able to bring orders to customers’ homes from May 4
Greggs said last week it was set to reopen some of its branches in the Newcastle area to test if it could operate without breaking social distancing rules, but has now changed its mind.
On Monday, motorists queued for hours to get a drink at Costa drive-thru’s, sparking fears people are ignoring lockdown measures as more high street chains reopen.
Tailbacks stretched around the block at takeaway chains in Edinburgh, Wakefield and Glasgow as drivers waited to get their coffee fix.
Drivers were seen queuing for a coffee at Costa Drive Thru, Cameron Toll, Edinburgh on Monday morning
At the weekend, eager customers queued for more than a mile to get a coffee at a branch in Snowhill Retail Park in Yorkshire as it reopened after more than a month on Saturday.
But it has led to a furious backlash from key workers, who claim people venturing out for takeaway food and drinks are ignoring warnings and pleas from the government and NHS staff to remain at home.
TGI Fridays becomes one of the latest fast food outlet to announce it is reopening as KFC announces it’s opening more drive-thru’s the day after 100 of its stores open
TGI Fridays is launching Click & Collect as part of a controlled trial across 24 of its UK restaurants. Click & Collect launches Wednesday 6th May, ahead of the May bank holiday on Friday 8th May.
Home Delivery will also be restored at the 24 locations with the company’s partners Just Eat and Deliveroo.
Launching on Wednesday, the new ordering system will allow customers to order their food and pay for it online then collect it from outside their nearest TGI Fridays restaurant, where social distancing measures will be in place.
The menu will consist of 22 of the restaurant’s favourite dishes, covering appetisers, mains, desserts and kids’ options.
The 24 selected restaurants are: Ashton-under-Lyne, Basildon, Birmingham Hagley Road, Birstall Shopping Park – Leeds (J27), Cardiff (Newport Road), Cheadle, Cheltenham, Cheshire Oaks, Edinburgh Fort Kinnaird, Enfield, Gateshead, Glasgow Fort, High Wycombe, Lakeside (West Thurrock Street), Leeds (Wellington Street), Northampton, Prestwich, Reading (Caversham Road), Sale, Sheffield, Southampton (Harbour Parade), Stevenage, Teeside and Watford North.
Five Guys
Five Guys kept 13 restaurants open for delivery and click and collect orders at the outset.
It then reopened 16 stores at the end of April for business and a further 16 will reopen on May 5 bringing the total to 45 out of 104 restaurants that will be open.
Stores opening on May 5 are: Ashton, Clapham, Bournemouth, Bullring, Canary Wharf, Derby, Canterbury, Cardiff – Caroline, Chester, Dundee, Harrogate, Leicester Cheapside, Maidstone, Richmond, Sheffield Valley.
Nandos
Popular chicken chain Nandos shut its door on March 23 due to the pandemic.
Nandos has now opened six restaurants with four in London and two in Manchester – for delivery only.
The restaurants to reopen are: London (Clink St, Camberwell, Canary Jubilee, Gloucester Road) Manchester (Fallowfield, Printworks).
Burger King
Burger King today announced on April 28 that they were opening the first drive-thrus for customers to use again. The restaurants are open in Havant, Hampshire, Dundee, Aberdeen, Reading, Hillington (Norfolk), Southampton, Merto, (London) Springfield Quay (London).
Drivers were photographed in a line around the block in Havant when the drive-thru first opened and staff were seen wearing masks and gloves over their uniforms as they handed burgers and fries to customers in Hampshire.
Wagamama
The popular restaurant offering Japanese and Asian food reopened its kitchens to deliver food to customers’ homes from last Thursday in Peckham and Hackney.
KFC
Fast food giant KFC announced on April 29 the reopening of another 80 branches for delivery as Britain continues to edge out of lockdown.
The fried chicken chain said 100 of its stores up and down the country would be able to bring orders to customers’ homes from May 4.
On Tuesday KFC announced it was reopening dozens more drive-thru services. From today it will run the drive-thru lanes at 55 restaurants, that are already open for delivery.
A spokesman said: ‘We’ve been working hard to responsibly reopen our restaurants and now we’re spreading our wings a little further.’
KFC’s that are now open for delivery AND drive-thru: Linwood – Paisley Leisure Park, Aberdeen – Great North Road, Leicester – Narborough Road, Bristol – Shield Retail Park, Swansea – Morfa Shopping Park, Aldershot – Ash Road, Hulme – Greenheys Lane West, Portsmouth – Pompey Centre, Birmingham – New Oscott, Birmingham – Great Bridge Retail Park, Heaton Chapel – Monarch Leisure Park, Tamworth – Ventura Retail Park, Enfield – Coliseum Retail Park, Glasgow – Great Western Retail Park, Glasgow – Pollokshaws Road, Wolverhampton – Bentley Bridge Pleasure Park, Northampton – Nene Park Sixfields, Newcastle under Lyme – Liverpool Road, Swindon – Delta Park, Deptford – Evelyn Street, Eastbourne – Lottbridge Drove, Mansfield – Fulmar Close, Coventry – Tile Hill, Govan – Helen Street, Bury – Moorgate Retail Park, Romford – Colchester Road, Tyburn – Kingsbury Road, Norwich – Mile Cross Lane, Grimsby – Birchin Way, Oxley – Bushbury Lane, Bloxwich – Leamore Lane, Wythenshawe – Rowlands Way, East Kilbride – Kingsgate Retail Park, Slough – Farnham Road, Colindale – The Hyde, Alperton – Western Avenue, Rochdale – Kingsway Retail Park, Manchester Fort Shopping Park, Farnworth – Albert Road, Ipswich – Cardinal Park, Ashford – Eureka Leisure Park, Broadstairs – Westwood Retail Park, Dover – Honey Wood Retail Park, Wakefield – Westgate Retail Park, Glasgow – Nitshill Road, Northampton – Towcester Road, Sheffield – Queens Road, Leyton – Lea Bridge Road, Weymouth – Jubilee Close, Bristol – Avonmeads Retail Park, Oldbury – Wolverhampton Road, Wolverhampton – Penn Road Retail Park, Durham – City Retail Park, Scunthorpe – Lakeside Retail Park.
Costa
Some Costa Coffee branches have been open inside hospitals to serve NHS staff through the lockdown. But the decision to run a total 33 stores across Britain indicates that Costa Coffee is one of many chains seeking to kick-start trading.
On Monday, photos showed motorists queuing for hours to get a drink at a Costa drive-thru in Edinburgh, sparking fears people are ignoring lockdown measures as more high street chains reopen.