The McDonald’s restaurants in Swindon have announced that their part in the campaign to change the dictionary definition of “McJob” has gathered more than 700 signatures from local people.

The company officially launched a public appeal on behalf of its 67,000 UK employees and their colleagues in the service sector back in May, calling for the UK’s dictionary houses to reconsider the existing “McJob” definition - “an unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects, esp. one created by the expansion of the service sector”.

The 739 signatures collected at the four restaurants demonstrate that people in the town are keen to give people working in the service sector the respect their hard work deserves. The petition was also signed by Swindon Mayor Michael Barnes, who visited the Great Western Way restaurant in June to gain a behind-the-scenes insight into the opportunities available through a career with McDonald’s.

Franchisee Paul Booth, who owns and operates the restaurants, is delighted with the response: “It’s good to know that the people we serve every day in our restaurants support the campaign and can see how much effort McDonald’s staff put into their work.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who signed the petition and the hardworking, dedicated teams at my restaurants who prompted this response. I hope the McJob campaign has encouraged people to look at careers in the service sector in a new light,” said Mr Booth.

At a national level the campaign has achieved support from 35 MPs who signed a Parliamentary Early Day Motion in protest of prejudice in the service sector, and leading figures from the worlds of business and education, including David Frost, director general, British Chambers of Commerce, Sir Digby Jones, former skills envoy, and Kevin Hawkins, director general, British Retail Consortium.

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