McDonald’s has promoted UK chief executive and previous marketer Jill McDonald to move up its new North West European division as portion of a much broader operational shake-as much as spur sales.
The fast-food chain is revamping its pan-European business to spice up sales.
McDonald will assume responsibility for the hot region, which is composed of Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and the united kingdom, from January 2014. It sees her tackle additional responsibility for Germany, the short food chain’s biggest market in Europe, and Luxemburg to her current remit of president of the Northern Division.
She was previously UK chief marketing officer before taking on as chief executive of McDonald’s UK in 2011.
The day-to-day running of the united kingdom business could be handed to Mark Hawthorne, currently regional vp of McDonald’s Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa markets, who have been appointed MD of the region. He’ll report back to McDonald.
The changes come as McDonald’s consolidates its European footprint from the present four divisions into three – North West, Central and Southern. Khamzat Khasbulatov, current Eastern Division president and chief executive of its Russia business, might be chargeable for the brand new Central Division, while Jean-¬Pierre Petit will continue to supervise the company’s Southern markets, which remain unaffected.
The shake-up could have no structural impact at the company’s marketing set-up across Europe. The corporate says the move will allow its local teams scale initiatives faster and work closer together. The restaurant chain is hoping the revamp can lift sales in a number of its more mature markets after reporting like-for-like revenue for its European restaurants rose by just 0.2 per cent year-on-year for the 3 months to 30 September.
Doug Goare, president f McDonald’s Europe says: “The management changes and promotions announced today position the corporate for future growth and can more effectively leverage the abilities of our leadership team in Europe. They’ll also make sure that we will scale successful initiatives around the region much more seamlessly.”
McDonald’s follows within the footsteps of FMCG companies Diageo and Unilever, who’ve made similar changes to their European offerings lately to balance fast-changing local tastes and distribution requirements with their globalisation efforts.