Local McDonald’s staff chosen for Olympic Champion Crew

MCDONALD’S has announced its official Olympic Champion Crew, including Ballymena crew members Tanya Hunter, Natalia Walczak and Cathy Crawford who have been selected from over 87,000 McDonald’s staff across the country to work at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Tanya, Natalia and Cathy will join the 36 specially selected local crew members from across Northern Ireland who are amongst a 2,000 strong squad of McDonald’s staff that have been chosen following a rigorous test of their speed, customer service and ability to work as part of a team – all essential skills to deliver the ultimate customer experience during London 2012.

As well as working at the Games they’ll also have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of London 2012, see at least one Olympic or Paralympic event, go to cultural events and socialise with fellow McDonald’s crew members from across the UK and the world.

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19 year old, Cathy Crawford from Ballymena explains how she feels about being chosen to be part of the McDonald’s Olympic Champion Crew: “This is a once in a life time opportunity and I am really looking forward to working as part of the McDonald’s team at the Olympic Games. I think the biggest challenge will be constantly feeling under pressure to do well working in one of the world’s busiest restaurants. However the most important quality to have is good team working skills, efficiency and communication between everyone to ensure customers are served quickly and all orders are accurate. I will be supporting the local athletes and also keeping an eye out for a few famous faces along the way.”

Last year, 12,000 staff from McDonald’s restaurants across the UK were involved in more than 100 ‘Super Team’ events to select the 2,000 Champion Crew needed to work at the Games. Staff were shortlisted from over 87,500 who work for McDonald’s in the UK after being nominated by their restaurant managers throughout 2011.

Local McDonald’s franchisee, Des Lamph, said: “I’m delighted that so many staff from across Northern Ireland have been chosen to take part in this fantastic opportunity. McDonald’s was looking for its very best people and they will have to step up their performance to meet the challenges of the Games. They’ll need to be able to make split second decisions; epitomise McDonald’s team spirit; adapt to new environments quickly and deliver the best possible customer service at a time when the world’s eyes will be on Great Britain – a challenge I’m sure our local crew will more than rise to.”

The crew will travel to London this summer to work across the four temporary McDonald’s restaurants in and around the Olympic park. They will play a key role in serving an estimated 1.75 million meals in 29 days to 9.7 million spectators, a workforce of 200,000 and 17,000 athletes and team officials quickly and safely. Staff will work for between 7-10 days at their nominated restaurant.