A Belfast McDonald’s franchisee has told how he was ready to call it a day after four decades in the business when a fire changed everything.
But instead of walking away, Paul Connan has now invested £1.5m in a refurbishment of his Donegall Place restaurant in Belfast city centre, which reopens on Thursday 9 July.
The Co Antrim father-of-two, who took over the franchise in 2002 after relocating to Northern Ireland four years earlier, said the devastating Primark inferno reminded him why he loved the job.
In August 2018, a blaze tore through Bank Buildings, the historic structure housing Primark directly opposite his restaurant, shutting down part of Belfast city centre for months and driving many local traders out of business. Donegall Place McDonald’s was forced to close immediately too.
“The Primark fire galvanised me,” Connan said. “We were in trouble when the restaurant closed down unexpectedly and immediately.”
He said his insurer told him cover only extended to loss of profit, not staff wages, and advised him to make his 130 employees redundant and rehire them later. He refused. “That was never an option for me,” he said.
“I rang every McDonald’s restaurant in Northern Ireland – every single one of them – to ask if they would take some of our staff. In the end, we relocated all 130 people temporarily within days and, when it came to getting everyone back after three months, some of the restaurants didn’t want to let them go,” Connan said.
“That experience reminded me how much I love what I do and that’s the real reason I’m here now.” Connan said staff at Donegall Place call it the ‘Mothership’ because so many people have started there before moving on to other McDonald’s restaurants across Northern Ireland.
The restaurant has now been refreshed for the fourth time in 27 years, following previous facelifts in 1999, 2009 and 2016, with between £2.5m and £3m invested during those earlier revamps. “This is the latest and the greatest refurb,” Connan said. “We did this to make the kitchen more efficient so it can adapt to the modern way of working. Customers will see the biggest difference in the dining area upstairs, in terms of how it looks.”
The investment also comes with plans to create 30 new jobs. “We currently have 110 employees and our target is to get to 140 in six months,” Connan said.
He wasn’t involved when the restaurant opened in 1992 with around 50 staff, but business has boomed under his stewardship.Donegall Place is open 24 hours on Fridays and Saturdays, closing at 3am the rest of the week.
Connan said he would like to return to round-the-clock opening, but the night-time economy is still recovering from the devastation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The biochemistry graduate, who lives outside Lisburn, began his McDonald’s career in 1981 in England before spending three years working in Croatia and Slovenia. He has two grown-up sons, both dentists, as well as one grandson and another grandchild on the way.
He now operates three additional McDonald’s restaurants in Belfast – at Connswater, Boucher Road and Ballygomartin – acquired in the years following the fire. “Despite my initial plan to retire after 40 years, I decided to carry on for a little bit longer,” he said.
Having invested £4m in the last four years across four restaurants, Connan said his focus remains on growing market share.
“We’re hoping the £1.5m upgrade and makeover will make the customer experience at Donegall Place even better than before,” he added.