Welshpool to ‘approach’ McDonald's

A planning insider has told us that there is “sufficient interest in opening a McDonald's” in the town to make an initial approach worthwhile.

“It is very early days yet but we are waiting to hear back on how the developers get on after approaching them,” said the insider. “There is a lot of interest currently being shown in the town and the recent town planning public consultation showed there was now sufficient support for opening a McDonald's.”

However, mywelshpool understands that McDonald's only considers moving into a new town if the local population and its catchment is at least 20,000 people. Welshpool has a population of 7,000 residents.

Tesco is currently being built on the outskirts of the town with four further big national brands expected to take units on the development. Welshpool is currently without a national food chain with both Burger King and KFC denying interest over the last four months.

However, Welshpool has come onto the radar of other national brands on the back of the Tesco development. In the pub trade, both JD Wetherspoon and Marston’s are actively seeking locations while high street names such as Argos, New Look and Halfords have all been courted by planners.

Meanwhile in Newtown, its franchise owner has invested £300,000 to refurbish the restaurant which is now open 24 hours on Friday and Saturday. It has doubled its staff numbers from 30 to 62 over the past seven years and is looking to expend further to become 24 hours seven days a week.

See also, tonight's lead story on www.mynewtown.co.uk