He has half an hour to prepare for the morning meeting. He isn't in a swanky coffee shop – he's in McDonald's.

This image represents the new age the fast-food chain has entered, adapting itself to draw in a more diverse range of customers, says Pritpal Singh, franchisee of now fewer than 23 McDonald's restaurants across Yorkshire, including Halifax.

Pritpal, who lives in Hebden Bridge and is married with two children, said a company survey revealed just how much of an impact the new-look approach had on the public perception, following a re-imaging of the restaurants. He said: "People come in on a morning, get their coffee and get the laptop out.

"Nowadays people are on the move all the time. They are looking for a mobile office so we are seeing a lot of business people coming in here before meetings."

He said it was due to a combination of factors, including the new restaurant design created by Bruce Oldfield, coffee, an updated menu – including organic choices – and free wi-fi.

"We are now seeing people who would normally not come in," said Pritpal. "We have reinvested and brought a different perspective to the brand."

The new modern décor uses vibrant colours and soft furnishings including Big Brother-style chairs.

By the end of this year Pritpal hopes 10 of the 23 restaurants will have had the same makeover as the one in Halifax.

His other restaurants include those in Dewsbury, Huddersfield, drive-throughs in Guiseley and Kirkstall, Leeds city centre, and Harrogate, which is opening this month.

It's just one part of the development of McDonald's that Pritpal is keen to champion.

The chain has 1,200 restaurants in the country and of these half are owned by franchisees.

Pritpal joined the company 25 years ago this month as a trainee manager. Just two years later he was the manager of his first newly opened restaurant in Sheffield.

He said: "When I joined there were only 110 restaurants around the country and now there are 10 times that many."

From 1994 he became a franchisee, starting with the Halifax restaurant he opened as a general manager seven years previously, followed by a string of acquistitions.

It was two years ago that he moved away from being the conventional franchisee to becoming a joint venture partner, where he formed his own company and struck a contract with McDonald's, splitting profits 50-50 between them.

"So from owning four stores I had 18 overnight," said Pritpal. "It's a long-term commitment. When I started as a franchisee it was a 20-year contract – McDonald's likes you to become part of that community."

Pritpal said there was now a real drive to remove all the misconceptions held about the company.

He pointed to his own speedyprogression as an example of how seriously McDonald's takes its commitment to the workforce and training.

Many of the company's management worked their way up rapidly from cleaning and serving onthe shop floor.

As a chemical engineering graduate, a career in McDonald's was never something Pritpal imagined when he began his job search. But fate handed him the trainee opportunity and he took it with both hands.

"Within 18 months I was running my own restaurant," said the 46-year-old.

"Across the world we must be 50-60 per cent franchisees so it's local people running local restaurants.

"We are independent franchisees doing what local businesses do day in day out. I'm just a local businessman who committed himself to these Yorkshire towns."

Chain is riding credit Squeeze
AFFORDABLE prices at the fast-food giant mean sales have not been hit by the credit crunch, according to Mr Singh.

He said: "People understand we sell good-quality food at affordable prices.

"The menu provides something for everyone – from the extra-value meals to the premium end."

He said food prices had soared due to the global economic downturn but McDonald's tiered prices meant there was always something for everyone.

"There are different tiers of prices and special offers," he said.

"Some people might move down one tier from premium. We have done a lot of work with the menu.

"Our customers are feeling the pressures of the credit crunch so we have got to be careful and not pass on all our costs to them. "

Pritpal said the introduction of a wider menu choice, including organic milk, was also drawing customers in.