Scotland’s first McDonald’s opened in Dundee in the 1980s. As the fast food chain celebrates its 80th anniversary, the former Reform Street branch manager recalls some of the store’s most prominent visitors. Gayle Ritchie picks up the story …
As the first user in Scotland to make and nibb to a Big Mac, Dave Jeffrey considers himself a lucky man.
Dave, now 59, director of the country’s first McDonald’s when he opened in November 1987 on Reform Street in Dundee.
Over the decades, while enjoying his meat treats, Dave has noticed that several prominent faces entered the establishment, adding Libertines singer Pete Doherty and children’s TV star Andi Peters.
Dave was impressed by the reaction to the chain’s arrival in the city and recalls that consumers equated it with a “big spaceship” in the middle of Reform Street.
Since then, its golden arches have established itself as one of the most recognizable places on the street, however, at the time of its opening, the Dundonians were sure what to do with it.
“The position was absolutely wild to us when we opened, we were kept,” Dave says.
“The place to eat was hugely illuminated inside and out and in stark contrast to everything around it.
“It remained open all night, which other people enjoyed because the rest of the street was dark; there was no night economy at the time.
“People had never noticed anything like this. It’s absolutely unique.
Dundee Tigers ice hockey players cut the ribbon and introduced the restaurant’s official opening.
“I’m a little disappointed that they didn’t show up with their ice hockey team!” Dave said.
“They just had it in their civilians, but they were a lot of fun and it was a smart bond because they were Americans and they understood the concept of McDonald’s.”
McDonald’s bosses have even created a whisky to celebrate the launch in Scotland.
Dave’s greatest reputation, he says, is to be the first user in Scotland to make and eat a Big Mac.
“Being Scottish, I am very proud to take this place! And it’s wonderful to be able to communicate it to other people!”
Dave recalls two notables who left a lasting impression at Reform Street Restaurant.
The first, in September 2005, pop star Pete Doherty, then Leader of Babyshambles and Dating Style Kate Moss.
“Mr. Doherty was in good shape and seemed ‘happy’ when he had breakfast,” Dave recalls.
“Some of our team members interacted with him.
“Soon after, he hit the street through the police for drinking in an alcohol-free zone.
Officers seized Alcohol from Doherty and warned him after the incident at 8:45 a.m.
His spokesman said the singer “probably does not know” the ban on drinking alcohol in Dundee city centre.
Babyshambles because he will play at a sold-out concert at Fats Sams nightclub in Dundee that night.
TV presenter Andi Peters, in May 2014, is a celebrity who comes to Reform Street Restaurant.
The children’s TV star in town as a member of GOOD Morning Britain and Lorraine Kelly of ITV, where audience members were able to participate in the show’s Wheel of Fortune game.
“He came to McDonald’s for breakfast and encouraged everyone with their jokes and conversations,” Dave says. “He made everyone laugh.”
The place to eat welcomed Ronald McDonald, the chain’s main mascot.
A crowd of about 12,000 people flocked to see the clown character turn on the Christmas lights in City Square.
The Reform Street site is the best position for a McDonald’s, as it is in the center of downtown and is packed with hungry shoppers.
Dave believes the maximum apparent replacement since he opened the place to eat has been the McDonald’s product line.
“The menu is much less complete. It’s basically meat-oriented, even though we were promoting bird nuggets,” he says.
“We sold coffee, but it took us a while to start offering tea.”
Kirkcaldy Restaurant was next to open its golden arches in Scotland, three weeks after Reform Street in Dundee.
“Both were planned, but Dundee came to fruition before Kirkcaldy,” Dave said.
“It’s just a matter of knowing which place in a position first.
“Basically, the board and the plan-making branch did everything very quickly.”
Dave also manager of Union Street McDonald’s in Aberdeen and Princes Street in Edinburgh.
Remember that the Scottish rugby team came to lunch at the 1991 World Cup.
“They had a game in Edinburgh and they were all superstar players: Gavin Hastings, Scott Hastings, David Sole, Tony Stanger and Finlay Calder.
“Someone from the Scottish Rugby Union asked if they could come and eat. Of course we said yes! McDonald’s on Princes Street on 3 floors, so we gave them a personal area downstairs. I think everyone ate Big Macs.
Rugby fan Dave could not ask the team to point out a rugby ball, and it is one of his most valuable possessions to date.
Dave, from Monikie to Angus, was running in Liverpool when McDonald’s opened in Scotland.
Eager to return to his Scottish roots, he took advantage of the possibility of opening the Dundee restaurant.
After 4 years, he took over the franchise.
He ran Dundee’s restaurant for 23 years before promoting the franchise in 2014.
“The Reform Street store has undergone many adjustments in the 33 years since it opened, yet I am proud and honored to have been there at the beginning of their adventure,” he recalls.
Dave still loves the bizarre Big Macs, but more than not, he heads to McDonald’s for reasonable (and tasty) coffee.
The U.S. fast food corporation McDonald’s Corporation, founded in 1940 as a place to eat, operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald in San Bernardino, California.
The brothers changed the name of their business to a burger stand and then turned the company into a franchise, with the Golden Ark brought in 1953 in Arizona.
In 1955, businessman Ray Kroc joined the company as a franchise agent and bought the chain from the McDonald brothers.
McDonald’s originally was based in Illinois, but moved its global headquarters to Chicago in June 2018.
McDonald’s took 15 years to reach Scotland after moving to Woolwich in the UK in 1974.
Guatemala, Andorra and Macau, the home of the Big Mac before the Scots can get it in their hands.
Despite months of promotion and anticipation, Dave said it wasn’t the way the logo would be received.
“We prepared everything we could and without delay after that first day of paintings on Reform Street that we had to hire more staff from Blackpool and Gateshead, who were the closest branches at the time,” he recalls.
“This week, the most productive opening week McDonald’s had in the UK.”
Mid Craigie’s McDonald’s drive service opened in October 1990 and this year marks the anniversary of the facility.
It opened through Arthur Innes, a 76-year-old Black Watch veteran.
In October 1994, athletics and boxing star Liz McColgan traded her tracksuit for a pinny to attend with a special “McHappy Day” in which 50 pence of each Big Mac went to charity.
Comedian and backward artist George Duffus is too eager to get caught on his side.
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