Burger flipped

28 January 2015 By Kevin Allison

Steve Easterbrook may be a veteran of the Golden Arches. But the company’s onetime Europe chief also spent two years running more hip UK chains PizzaExpress and then Wagamama. That’s the experience McDonald’s needs to adapt to changing consumer tastes and revive sales.

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McDonald’s announced on Jan. 28 that Steve Easterbrook is to replace Don Thompson as chief executive of the $86 billion burger chain on March 1.

The change comes less than a week after McDonald’s reported a 21 percent drop in net income and a 1.7 percent drop in sales at U.S. restaurants open for more than a year during the fourth quarter.

Easterbrook is currently the company’s chief brand officer. He started at McDonald’s in 1993, progressing to become head of UK operations and then head of Europe.

He left in 2011 to become chief executive of PizzaExpress and then chief executive of Wagamama. He returned to McDonald’s in June 2013.

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