Bank St McDonald's racking up awards

A Whangarei McDonald's worker is preparing to serve burgers at the biggest Mac of them all - a London restaurant made especially for the Olympics.

Bank St McDonald's assistant manager Marilou Embling is one of only two New Zealand staff selected to work at the store during an all-expenses-paid trip to the London Olympics.

Employing 2000 staff from around the world, the store will be the biggest McDonald's in the world - 10 times bigger than the Bank St store.

Ms Embling, who has worked at McDonald's for six years and was previously a manager at Georgie Pie and Burger King, made the final cut from a starting group of more than 500 staff members and was selected by a panel of New Zealand managers after making a presentation on how she runs her shift.

"It's an amazing experience for me, I never would have thought to go to London," she said.

"They're going to take us sightseeing for one day and we'll be going to one of the Olympic Games events of our choice."

Also pleasantly surprised is Ms Embling's boss, Antony Bax. In addition to being awarded restaurant manager of the year for 2011, Mr Bax has been recognised as being in the top 1 per cent of managers in the Asia, Pacific, Middle East and Africa region. As a result, he will be flown to Tokyo with his wife and three children to stay at the Grand Hyatt and visit Disneyland.

"I'm more than rapt, it's great to get to share something with my family. Mum and dad are so excited they're coming too."

At the high point of all this happiness is McDonald's Bank St franchise owner Warwick Hales. Mr Hales recently accompanied Mr Bax to a national McDonald's meeting in Wellington, at which their store was awarded restaurant of the year for 2011.

Mr Hales, who has owned the franchise for 12 years, said the secret to success was people. "You've got to have the best people working for you, and training those people."

McDonald's Bank St employs 105 staff, rising to about 120 over the Christmas/New Year period.