McDonald’s outlet at Cobham, situated towards the back of the food court near customer seating. McDonald’s is the most significant franchise at Cobham as it attracts loads of customers due to its constant pricing and reliability. 2022 study found that McDonalds is Extra’s most popular brand, and it’s suggested that McD will take most of the trade wherever it is built. This can be said for Cobham, with McDonalds covering all bases from breakfast, lunch, dinner and providing customers coffee. It being a highly recognisable name means customers know exactly what to expect & its cheap prices compared to its competitor eateries means, mostly, McDonalds takes the trade. When McDonalds first opened at Cobham, it was a rare site for motorway services as Roadchef sites had their own-brand “Burger Company” before being mostly transformed into McD in 2013-15, making this McDonalds stand out less today than when first opened. The McDonalds menu doesn’t change on the motorway and this unit lacks its own customer seating so customers use the communal seating in the centre of the amenity building here. This McDonalds is permanently busy, and gets overcrowded when the amenity building is packed, such as today. During my visit, McD was indeed busy and popular. McDonald’s is signposted from the M25 as it’s Cobham’s core brand and McDonald’s is advertised around the site in addition to being included on all of Cobham’s totem poles. McDonald’s at Cobham operates 24 hours of the day, providing midnight drivers hot food.

Photo taken on 23/12/2023 by Tom Moon.

Assigned to galleries: Cobham, McDonald's, M25, Extra