McDonald’s, a well-known multinational fast food chain operating around 1300 outlets in the UK is set to remain closed on Monday, 19th September till 5 pm to pay their final respect to the Queen. The fast-food company announced on Wednesday that the chains would shut down from midnight on Sunday until 5 p.m. on Monday.
McDonald’s wrote in a tweet, “All of our UK restaurants will be closed on Monday until 5 pm, to allow everyone at McDonald’s to pay their respects to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”
All of our UK restaurants will be closed on Monday until 5pm, to allow everyone at McDonald’s to pay their respects to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Operating hours and services may vary after 5pm, so please check our app before travelling. pic.twitter.com/OOws3q8hnb
— McDonald's UK (@McDonaldsUK) September 14, 2022
The CEO said that this would be their way of paying tribute to the Queen. All the staff in the company would be paid if they were scheduled to work on Monday. McDonald’s has 1,400 restaurants in the UK.
“Individual businesses will need to make the decisions about what is right for them and discuss with their employees, but there is obviously no one-size-fits-all approach,” Blain said. “All company-owned restaurant employees will be paid for their scheduled hours,” he added.
The tweet also guided the customers to check the app after 5 pm as the company’s services and operating hours can vary.
Other fast food chains are taking different initiatives to pay their respect to the queen. Dominos outlets will open an hour late at noon after the ceremony is finished. Likewise, Pizza Express operating 350 restaurants will remain closed until 3 pm.
Cineworld having 128 cinemas in the UK will also remain shut down on Monday. Following with this international brands like Waitrose, John Lewis, Asda, Harrods and Primark said that they will remain closed on Monday as a mark of this memorial service.
Costa the popular coffee chain announced on Tuesday that it would be closing its outlets on Monday “as a mark of respect to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.” It also said that some of the stores may remain open. Greggs, the British bakery chain which sells coffee, sandwiches, and baked goods also announced that it would close down on Monday. “A small number of our shops, operated by our franchise partners, may remain open,” it said.
September 19 has already been declared a national holiday and King Charles III approved a bank holiday across the UK for his mother’s funeral. But the UK government has said that decision of closing or not an individual’s business rests entirely upon business alone.
