'I took a big risk to open a string of McDonald's in Manchester city centre'

“I was one of the lucky ones,” said Roger Khoryati.

The McDonald’s franchisee owns no fewer than 10 branches of the fast food chain - including the four in the city centre.

However, it hasn’t always been plain sailing for the Beirut-born businessman, who says the last few years have brought with them a number of challenges - one of which saw the money pot run dry.

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Despite struggles the fast food chain faces in the current climate with the cost of living and Covid recovery, the 58-year-old remains confident that McDonald’s has a bright future ahead on the high street and indeed, in Manchester.

Manchester Evening News’ Bethan Shufflebotham sat down with the McDonald’s mogul. Roger spilled the secrets of his success, set out the challenges the business has, and continues to face, and spoke about his hopes for the future of the company.

Born and raised in downtown Beirut, insurance worker Roger moved to the UK in the late 80s in search of bigger and better opportunities for him and his family. He began work in the hotel industry in Brighton, but during the recession, sought the security of the corporate world.

He said: “I was going to go back to the insurance industry, as I had worked in that for a few years before I relocated to the UK. But it meant I would have had to start from the bottom, and work all the way up again. The pay wasn't very good, and McDonald's was offering quite a good, attractive package at the time.

“I had a friend who worked for McDonald's and he said, ‘why don't you try McDonald's?’ So I joined as a trainee business manager in June 1990 and progressed through the ranks.”

Nine years later, as part of the