Doug Goare is retiring as McDonald’s chief restaurant officer and international lead markets president, it was announced on Tuesday. The retirement brings to an end one of the longest tenures at the company, with the 66-year-old having worked for the fast-food giant for over 40 years.
“Doug has been an important leader whose career at McDonald’s has spanned multiple continents and his expertise has contributed greatly to the success of our business today,” McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook said in a statement. “I have always valued his wise counsel and his passion for elevating the experience for our customers and crew.”
The departure will bring about a series of changes in McDonald’s organisational structure, which will take place alongside its restaurant refranchising efforts. The changes started in 2015, when McDonald’s in the US started the process of realigning its strategy depending on the market. Franchisees now operate over 90 percent of the 37,000 locations.
“The organization we created as we were beginning our turnaround in 2015 helped us make decisions more quickly, act with greater agility and strengthen the performance of our markets,” Easterbrook said. “This new organizational structure provides us the opportunity to continue building on our progress.”
