A businessman walks through the doors and sits in a quiet corner, sets up his laptop and orders a coffee.
He has half an hour to prepare for the morning meeting. He isn’t in a swanky coffee shop – he’s in McDonald’s.
This image represents the new age the fast-food chain has entered, adapting itself to draw in a more diverse range of customers, says Pritpal Singh, franchisee of now fewer than 23 McDonald’s restaurants across Yorkshire, including Halifax.
Pritpal, who lives in Hebden Bridge and is married with two children, said a company survey revealed just how much of an impact the new-look approach had on the public perception, following a re-imaging of the restaurants. He said: “People come in on a morning, get their coffee and get the laptop out.
“Nowadays people are on the move all the time. They are looking for a mobile office so we are seeing a lot of business people coming in here before meetings.”