A COUPLE behind one of the most successful McDonald’s restaurants in Ireland and the UK have launched a bid to build 11 business units in Co Antrim.
John and Orna McCollum are the directors of JMC Resturants. Alongside the McDonald’s drive-thru restaurant in Sprucefield, they operate the franchise for the fast food chain in The Boulevard in Banbridge and Damolly Retail Park in Newry.
They are now proposing to construct 11 industrial units with office accommodation at Kilbegs Business Park in Antrim.
Industry monitor Construction Information Services (CIS) Ireland has estimated the value the project at around £3.3 million.
The couple notified Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council of their plans for a site at Plaskett’s Close just two days before Christmas.
The 2.5 acre site is located next to the base for successful online retailer Ozaroo, started by Belfast brother Chris and Conor Martin.
The Kilbegs Business Park itself is home to a series of major businesses, including Marcon, Firmus Energy and DPD Ireland.
John McCollum was one of the original investors behind the Drumbo Park Greyhound Stadium. The £3m venture on the grounds of Lisburn Distillery football club closed in 2019. It later reopened under new ownership. Mr McCollum, stood down as a director in 2014.
The businessman went on to oversee significant investment in a number of McDonald’s restaurants.
Some £600,000 was invested in the busy Sprucefield drive-thru in 2016, with a new 24/7 eatery opened at The Boulevard in Banbridge the same year.
The latest set of accounts published for JMC Restaurants show the company enjoyed a 38 per cent rise in turnover to £22.4m for the year ending December 31 2018.
The bulk (£21.94m) came from product sales in the company’s McDonald’s restaurants.
It left the firm with a pre-tax profit of £483,295 for the year.
According to the accounts, JMC Restaurants employed an average of 747 staff during 2018, 257 more than in 2017. Staff costs came to £6.6m for the year.
