Lithgow McDonald staff praised for all their hard work during COVID-19 lockdown

Lithgow kept their drive-thru open, which included McCafe, as well as delivery open, and takeaways from the store.

"Our staff really stepped up to the challenge of keeping our restaurant open and operating safely for our customers," Lithgow McDonald's licensee Kerry Gordon said.

Ms Gordon said that the Lithgow crew managers adapted daily and were able to turn operations around overnight, which in some cases would normally take a long time.

"There were changing rules and regulations that were met by the team, every day," she said.

"What really helped us, too, was the incredible support we received from the community, who really worked with us as we all adapted to the 'new normal'."

The Lithgow store was incredibly lucky that no staff had to be laid off during the lockdown period.

"I have a lot of full time, part time and casual staff of all ages and to be able to give them a sense of certainty and continuity around their employment and conditions was really important to me, as a licensee," she said.

"Keeping the drive-through open meant the restaurant could continue to serve the community and that Ms Gordon could continue to look after her staff.

READ MORE: "Her whole life changed"; Lithgow girl Angela Baraz shows strength

"Drive-thru became a major focus for the business and offered some stability for customers and staff in what was a very unstable time."

Since Ms Gordon also runs multiple other stores, she made sure that employees weren't travelling between the stores.

"As a team, we adapted our usual ways of working to prioritise the health and wellbeing of our people and our customers, throughout the pandemic," she said.

Lithgow McDonald's will also be one of the first stores in NSW to trial dining in once again.

"Our sales are down significantly so I wanted to trial eating in again, in full alignment with COVID-Safe regulations and as regional restrictions continue to ease," she said.

"We can't wait to welcome our local customers and regional travellers back to the restaurant again."

One thing Ms Gordon made clear was that the Lithgow store couldn't be running the way it was without the dedicated team of managers and crew.

READ MORE:

"It would be really hard for me to single out one employee but all the employees led by the store manager Rona have been outstanding," she said.

"Rona and her team of managers and all the crew that work at the store have just been outstanding. I'm very proud, they've done a great job."

"It was an incredible team effort to keep the store going."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: