McDonald’s Australia has named Antoni Martinez as its new chief executive to replace outgoing boss Andrew Gregory, who is moving to a global role as head of franchising at the fast food giant.
Mr Martinez will move back to his native Australia at the end of the month to take up the new job on May 1 from Seoul, where he is currently managing director of McDonald’s Korea.
Mr Gregory has worked at McDonald’s Australia since 1996, starting as a crew member and working his way up to chief financial officer before taking on the top job in 2014.
Under his leadership, McDonald’s Australia has delivered consistent, record growth in sales, profitability, and market share. Coffee, delivery and digital sales have been among the most significant drivers of growth.
“McDonald’s Australia is one of McDonald’s largest and most successful markets in terms of growth, employment, and economic impact,” Mr Gregory said.
“I am proud to be handing the reins of this great company to Antoni at a time of strong, sustained performance.“
“As I step up and into a global position, I have every confidence that he is the best leader to return home and drive the plans for our continued growth, innovation, and success.”
Mr Martinez takes over at a difficult time as the chain makes a big push into regional areas. It is facing an uphill battle in attracting the right franchisees who are willing to move and invest upwards of $1.5 million cash in the business.
“Macca’s” has about 100 new restaurants in the pipeline over the next three years, about one-third of which will be in regional areas.
The group has 1020 McDonald’s restaurants across Australia and nearly 85 percent of those are franchise operations. It is a major employer with more than 110,000 people in restaurants and corporate offices, and is the largest employer of youth in the country.
Mr Martinez will also be grappling with possible wage increases being determined by the Fair Work Commission’s wage panel, which would come into effect on July 1. Unions are pushing for a 5 percent increase in the minimum wage this year to more than $21 an hour to cope with the surging cost of living.
Mr Martinez started at McDonald’s in Melbourne in 2000, before moving into senior leadership roles including development director and market director for the southern region, where he was responsible for operations, franchising and marketing for more than 300 restaurants.
In February 2020, Mr Martinez relocated to Seoul to lead South Korea’s McDonald’s team.
Mr Martinez said he was excited to return to Australia, where he planned to focus on providing opportunities for its people to develop their skills.
“I stepped outside of the Australian market to gain valuable international experience and have watched with a great sense of homegrown pride the continued growth and innovation of the Australian business,” he said.