14th July, 2006
McD's Bulgaria Transfers to a Developmental Licensee Structure
McDonald's Press Release - 7/14/2006
McDonalds's Bulgaria Transfers to a Developmental Licensee Structure
McDonald's Corporation today announced that McDonald's Bulgaria has transferred to a Developmental Licensee (DL) structure. The DL structure is a form of franchising used by McDonald's for about 20 years that enables local ownership and developing the brand.
"It has been a long and careful process to identify those people we wish to entrust with the future of our brand in Bulgaria. We have every confidence in the commitment and entrepreneurial skills of the DL franchisees we have chosen for Bulgaria. Our new DL franchisees are a reflection of our key European strategy of preserving local relevance as they understand the market, the people and the opportunities," said Denis Hennequin, President of McDonald's Europe.
We are pleased to confirm that the new DL franchisees of McDonald's Bulgaria are experienced business people with an in depth knowledge of the local market:
-- Ivan Lissikov - former McDonald's Bulgaria employee (with more than
10 years of employment), who worked as Bulgaria's Finance manager and
Market Leader. Last four years he spent in various positions in
McDonald's European structures. Now he is coming back in Bulgaria as a
partner.
-- Svetozar Janevski - Longstanding DL franchisee of McDonald's Macedonia
-- Zoran Matlievski -- Longstanding DL franchisee of McDonald's Macedonia
"It makes me feel proud to become a franchisee partner and to be developing the McDonald's brand and its people in my home country and I know that my business partners are equally committed to developing opportunities for McDonald's brand in Bulgaria," said Ivan Lissikov.
"Our experience of Developmental Licenses is that this type of structure enables the local management team to use their knowledge to build the business over the long term," said Linda Buckley, Senior Vice-President and Chief Support Officer McDonald's Europe.
Early in 2006, McDonald's Corporation announced its intention to find 15-20 countries (about 1,500 restaurants) over the next three years to convert to a DL structure.
There are currently 35 such DL structures around the world. Bulgaria has 21 McDonald's restaurants that employ over 1,000 Bulgarians and serve over six million customers a year. The first McDonald's restaurant opened in Plovdiv in 1994.
McDonald's is the leading foodservice retailer with more than 31,000 local restaurants serving quality food to nearly 50 million customers in more than 100 countries each day. Approximately 70 percent of McDonald's restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent, local men and women. |
