McDonald’s Newport revamp separates delivery couriers and dine-in customers

Delivery couriers and dine-in customers now move through separate parts of McDonald’s Lyne Road restaurant in Newport after a full redesign that put mobile orders, delivery handoffs and in-store touchscreen sales at the center of the site. The restaurant reopened on June 26 after the overhaul, with a larger order assembly area, a redesigned front counter and dedicated space for different types of traffic.

The layout change centers on the McDonald’s app and in-store touchscreens. At Lyne Road, the removal of the traditional front counter streamlines the flow inside the restaurant, cutting down the congestion that builds when couriers, dine-in guests and staff are all trying to use the same space at once. The refurbishment also added a more contemporary dining area and improved crew-room and break spaces for employees working the floor.

Ron Mounsey, who owns the Lyne Road restaurant and 17 McDonald’s locations across South Wales, said the changes should help both customers and staff by making jobs easier and reducing congestion.

McDonald’s reimaging programme targets faster, more efficient and more flexible ordering as customer habits continue to shift. At Newport Retail Park, a McDonald’s reopened on September 8, 2023, under the company’s Convenience of the Future programme with separate facilities for diners and couriers and a stronger emphasis on digital orders. South Wales Argus put the rollout at 200 of those upgrades in the previous year, with 800 more planned over the next four years.

In 2023, McDonald’s UK and Ireland chief operating officer Gareth Pearson said the pandemic accelerated digital adoption in restaurants and that the company needed to give customers choice while providing restaurant teams and delivery partners the best possible environment to work in.