McDonald's insists it has 'not forgotten' about the north of England as it revealed when it will decide to reopen all its Drive-Thru restaurants.
Earlier this week, McDonald's reopened 39 Drive-Thru branches in England and Ireland, although all the English locations are in the South East.
In a message to customers, McDonald's chief executive Paul Pomroy explained why it has only reopened Drive-Thrus in the south - and said the burger chain has "not forgotten" about areas where McDonald's remains shut, including the North East.
He wrote: "To help us test the new procedures and to slowly restart our supply chain, the pilot restaurants in the UK are all located close to our head office and to one of our distribution centres in the South East. We wanted to keep this group controlled and to test the impact of reopening multiple restaurants in one area first, instead of spreading ourselves too thinly and to make it easier for our employees and suppliers.
"I promise I have not forgotten about any part of the UK or Ireland. We are taking our time to test the new ways of working in our restaurants, ensuring that we can continue to help our teams to work safely, and to get back to the communities we have proudly served for so many years."
Mr Pomroy revealed McDonald's will make a further announcement next week about reopening Drive-Thru restaurants and expanding its delivery service, which operated in Newcastle before the coronavirus lockdown and could be extended to other parts of the North East once it resumes.
Ultimately, McDonald's aims to reopen all its Drive-Thru restaurants by the end of June.
Mr Pomory's letter states: "Next week we will confirm the reopening timetable for all of our Drive Thrus, alongside when and where we will increase the availability of McDelivery. Over the coming months, we will explore how to extend the menu, increase our opening hours and reintroduce those much-missed McMuffins at breakfast."
It adds: "Thank you to those who have taken the time to contact us asking when your town can expect a return of the Big Mac, we are working on it, keep an eye on our website and social media channels next week for more news on this."
