Britons either love or loathe McDonald’s; some proudly enjoy the bargain meals on offer, some secretly order it in, and then some claim to never have a McDonald’s treat.
One thing is for certain, though, you can’t get very far on public transport without seeing the bright yellow sign.
Now insightful research has collated information on where McDonald’s branches have taken over – and it may surprise you.
Reach Data Unit exclusively analysed information from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to compile where the fast food restaurants are dominating.
Having over 40,000 branches across the globe, the highest number of branches in Britain can be found in Westminster, central London.
Westminster is officially the McDonald’s capital of the UK, which is also home to the UK Government and some of the country’s top tourist destinations, such as Buckingham Palace.
Westminster is also home to Big Ben, Trafalgar Square and the trendy hotspot Soho.
There are a total of 15 independent McDonald’s to be found in the Westminster area.
That works out as more than seven McDonald’s for every 100,000 Westminster residents.
Top 10 areas where there are the most McDonald’s
- Westminster: 7.3
- Cannock Chase: 5
- Bolsover: 5
- West Dunbartonshire: 4.6
- Newport: 4.4
- Harlow: 4.3
- Boston: 4.2
- Crawley: 4.2
- Rushmoor: 4
- Lincoln: 3.9
Cannock Chase is an area between Wolverhampton and Stafford that is described as “one of England’s finest landscapes”.
Cannock Chase National Landscape was most likely referencing the beautiful countryside managed by Forestry England, however, and not the number of Golden Arches in its area.
Meanwhile, Bolsover is an English market town in Derbyshire that also has independent shops and an imposing castle among McDonald’s on the high street.
And then West Dunbartonshire, in the north-west of Glasgow, Scotland, is home to commuter towns and villages, served well by the Golden Arches.
While these areas have the most McDonald’s per resident population, are there places where McDonald’s hasn’t popped up?
Eighteen local authorities in the UK are without a branch of the famed fast food outlet.
These include Waverley, Bromsgrove, Broxbourne, Tewkesbury and Forest of Dean, although the latter had an ill-fated petition in 2017 to open up a McDonald’s there.
Areas that do not have McDonald’s
- Wokingham
- Waverley
- Bromsgrove
- Broxbourne
- Tewkesbury
- Three Rivers
- Rother
- South Hams
- Runnymede
- Mole Valley
- Forest of Dean
- Argyll and Bute
- Rochford
- Brentwood
- West Devon
- Na h-Eileanan Siar
- Shetland Islands
- Orkney Islands
- Isles of Scilly
