Franchisee Chirag Pandya pictured at McDonald’s in Castle Bridge Road, Nottingham.(Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)

Nottingham McDonald's to close for 'significant' 7-figure revamp

16 Jun 2026, 13:22 by Lynette Pinchess · NottinghamshireLive

The Castle Marina branch will close for several weeks while work takes place

A 'significant' makeover is planned for a Nottingham McDonald's - making it the first in the Midlands to get the brand new look.

A seven-figure sum, which hasn't been disclosed, is being invested at the fast food restaurant at Castle Marina, which was last refurbished around 2014.

Chirag Pandya, who became England's youngest McDonald's franchisee at the age of 28, wasn't born when the restaurant was built in Castle Bridge Road in 1989.

On July 14, almost two years to the date he took over the site, the restaurant will close for dining-in as work begins. Home deliveries will be halted, however the drive-way will continue to operate 24/7 for a further two weeks.

The entire operation will be closed throughout August, ready for reopening on September 2. Chirag said: "We're very excited for this year. It's a big makeover, a significant investment. It will be completely redesigned for the future."

Swiss Cottage McDonald's in London is the only other store to have the new look. "This will be the only one in the Midlands to look like this. It's very customer and children-friendly, a very family-centred image they have gone for which is nice and we've added a couple of additions we wanted in the theme.

"It will look very different. I think the last time Castle Marina had a makeover on this scale was 12 years ago. It will be very spacious. It'll look beautiful.

"It will be far brighter, far more modern, far more aesthetic. We've done a good job of maintaining it here but it does look quite ancient. This was great for 2014 but we want to become McDonald's of 2026 and beyond."

The restaurant will have a red, blue and gold colour scheme and the counter will be remodelled so it's directly in front of customers as they walk through the door. The kitchen will also be redesigned and a new separate entrance and waiting area for couriers will be created.

The 76-seater area downstairs will be closed to customers and instead will be turned into a training hub for staff. Plenty of seating will remain on the ground floor and outside though as it's one of biggest sites outside the city centre.

Outside will also be getting a bit of TLC but there's no major changes to keep the familiar McDonald's appearance. Family fun days already planned with mascot meet and greets over the summer are likely to be switched to Edwalton.

Nia Samuels, who works with the elderly and homeless, visits the Castle Marina restaurant regularly for tea and porridge or a hash brown and pancakes. She said: "It's friendly here, great customer service and it's so clean. It's my favourite McDonald's. My family in The Meadows all come here, too."

Jokingly she added: "I'm a bit annoyed about it closing as I'm thinking where am I going to go? But it is going to be something to look forward to."

The refurbishment isn't only the big news for Chirag, who at the end of the month will be expanding his empire. He will take over over the Clumber Street and Edwalton sites from Jerry Nicholls, who operates most of Nottingham's McDonald's.

Chirag said: "Jerry is deservedly winding down. I bought this one off him two years ago, which was a privilege and then I'll be buying the other two. Two weeks after that my wife is having a baby and then three weeks later we'll reopen here so a lot is going on in a small space of time.

"None of this would be possible without the team that I've got who are absolutely exceptional. They've risen to the standards we've elevated here. Across the three stores we'll have a a staff base of nearly 400, so it's a significant employee base."

At some point the Clumber Street restaurant will have a revamp. "We'll be looking at how we can invest in the city centre once I've got my feet under the table and I've got a good grip of what's going on and the needs of the business, crew and customers in Clumber Street."

McDonald's is currently on the World Cup bandwagon with two burgers, Sweet Carolina BBQ Stack and Mexican Chipotle Chicken Burger, and cheese bites that look like footballs plus a new summer drinks menu with frozen cherry lemonade and vanilla matcha frappe.

"I won't spoil it for you but later on in the year we've got a lot that's going to be coming on," said Chirag, who swapped his career as a pharmacist to become a fast food franchisee.

He worked for a couple of high street chemists in London, with an initial aim to open his own pharmacy because he wanted to get into business.

A stint in the corporate world at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) taught him the ins and outs of business and the economy and from there he joined the NHS to become a director of four hospitals where he helped to turn an inadequate rating into outstanding within 18 months.

He said: "Then Covid hit and I was at home, as many of us were, and thought what could I do in business and what type of avenues could I take a look at?

"I was at a networking forum and got in touch with the franchisee who owns Swiss Cottage, and she was very complimentary about McDonald's and the framework that it offers, the support system and the training that McDonald's gives you is second to none so I thought that sounds like the kind of fit that I would like.

"It lets me function as my own business but I've got a piece of a multi-billion-pound business globally so the support system is very robust.

"Coming from a pharmacist skill set where everything was around attention to detail for customers, I bring that type of skill set to McDonald's along with the business acumen that I learnt at PwC and the leadership elements I learnt at the NHS as a director."