McDonald's invests in new restaurant openings, wants 5% bigger turnover

Fast food operator McDonald's Romania is planning to increase its turnover by five percent this year and invest in opening two new drive-in restaurants. The investment in the two new locations, as well as in the renovation of the two others will require an investment of around EUR 11 million, according to Karen Bishop, head of McDonald's in Romania. Next year, three more restaurants will be opened and five others will be revamped, following a EUR 16.6 million investment. So far the company posted a 4.5 percent increase in the first quarter of the year. The company posted a turnover of around EUR 95 million in 2008, followed by a four percent increase last year. McDonald's employs 3,400 staff in its 62 restaurants in Romania. So far, the local McDonald's operator has invested around EUR 71 million in the country. Karen Bishop was appointed at the helm of McDonald's Romania after the previous country manager Marian Alecu stepped down towards the end of last year. She took the helm of the company at the beginning of October last year, after serving as Chief Operations Officer with McDonald's Russia and Eastern Europe.