Stockholm / SE. (mcs) McDonald’s is the largest and leading restaurant chain in the Nordic region with 430 restaurants, 20,000 employees and 800,000 guests visiting McDonald’s restaurants in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland every day. The Nordic organisation now has a Swedish returnee as its new CEO, Mats Hörnell. More than 10 years ago, Mats was, among other things, head of development at McDonald’s in Sweden, but most recently he comes from the role of managing director at Waynes Coffee. Over the past five years, McDonald’s and its franchisees in the Nordic region have invested heavily in modernising the restaurant experience, with over SEK 1.5 billion invested in Sweden alone. The high rate of investment will continue and Mats’ mission is to expand the business with more guests and new restaurants, continue to develop the brand and make the Nordic region a leading region for McDonald’s globally.
Mats Hörnell started his career in the travel and service industry. He came into contact with McDonald’s during the establishment of the restaurant in Sälen. Between 1998 and 2009, he was, among other things, development manager, controller and property manager at McDonald’s in Sweden. Subsequently, he has been Nordic expansion manager for Åhléns and most recently Mats comes from the position of CEO of Waynes Coffee.
I am happy that Mats chooses to come back. He has a solid track record and has consistently delivered strong business results in the service and restaurant industry, says Guy Hands, owner of McDonald’s in the Nordic region.
McDonald’s has ambitious plans to continue to invest and grow in the Nordic region. Over the next five years, McDonald’s will invest heavily in the Nordic market, both in the establishment of new restaurants, with 140 to 150 new restaurants to be established in the region, and in the modernisation of existing restaurants. In recent years, the majority of restaurants in the Nordic region have been upgraded with modern cooking systems and digital ordering systems with table service to meet guests’ increased demands for digitalisation, speed, and service levels. The new ordering and preparation system delivers even tastier burgers, but also has the positive benefit of reducing the already low food waste by 20 percent to less than 1 percent. McDonald’s has also made itself even more accessible to more guests with expanded Drive-Thrus, McDelivery, the ability to order and pay on the app, and even charging stations for electric car-borne guests.
«I look forward to coming back to McDonald’s and working with all the great franchisees again. It feels like coming home to the McDonald’s family, which has also grown with the new Nordic organisation. There are many synergies for us to work together across each market and huge economies of scale in everything from sourcing to digital initiatives,» says Mats Hörnell.
McDonald’s currently has a total of around 20,000 employees in the Nordic region, including 12,000 employees at 200 restaurants in Sweden, over the next 3 years over 10,000 young people will get the first important line on their CVs at McDonald’s in Sweden alone. In addition, we are expanding strongly in the Nordic region and in Sweden this means about 40 new restaurants in the next five years, which means another 2,000 completely new jobs.
«It feels particularly important that we open the door to more young people, especially now that youth unemployment is widespread. For many, a job at McDonald’s is the first step into adulthood and the step into the labour market, or even the way into society. We are proud of our employees and the fact that we can employ young people and be big enough to make a difference for today’s youth generation,» says Mats Hörnell.
Alongside his work, Mats is also involved in clubs and associations, as a football coach and board member of IFK Mariefred, Södermanland’s largest sports club.
