when did the first mcdonald's open in england
1974
title: History of the hamburger text: was not the only one. Wimpy began operating in the United Kingdom in 1954, 20 years before McDonald's began operation in the country, and by 1970 it had expanded to over a thousand restaurants in 23 countries. On August 21, 1971, in Zaandam, near Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Ahold opened its first European franchise. In the 1970s, McDonald's began to expand into Europe and Australia. In Asia, Japan saw the establishment of its own fast food chain in 1972: , an abbreviation of "Mountain, Ocean, Sun", which eventually became a direct competitor to McDonald's. All of its products, however, were title: KFC text: the UK. England had the first overseas branch of KFC which opened in Preston, Lancashire in May 1965, and was the first American fast food restaurant chain in the country, pre-dating the arrival of McDonald's, Burger King and Pizza Hut by almost a decade. Ray Allen, an experienced Lancashire caterer, was the first franchisee. The first London branch opened in North Finchley in November 1968. In 1971 there were 31 outlets; by 1975 the chain had grown to 250 outlets. In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, KFCs began to introduce seating. KFC opened its first drive through restaurant title: McDonald's text: "McDrive" as it is known in many countries, often has separate stations for placing, paying for, and picking up orders, though the latter two steps are frequently combined; it was first introduced in Sierra Vista, Arizona in 1975, following the lead of other fast-food chains. The first such restaurant in Britain opened at Fallowfield, Manchester in 1986. In some countries, "McDrive" locations near highways offer no counter service or seating. In contrast, locations in high-density city neighborhoods often omit drive-through service. There are also a few locations, located mostly in downtown districts, that offer a "Walk-Thru" service in place of title: Burton (retailer) text: of these Burton buildings have been destroyed over the years, many are still standing and some of them still have active snooker clubs upstairs. Some are still occupied by Burton stores (often a combined Burton and Dorothy Perkins store) but many have changed use. McDonald's first three restaurants in the UK were opened in former Burton stores in 1974 and 1975 as the company was selling property at that time. Most of the Scottish stores are listed with Historic Environment Scotland, protecting them from changes. However, only six stores in England and Wales are listed buildings, leaving over 200 with title: McDelivery text: In the United States, delivery began in 1993 in Virginia. The service expanded to Manhattan in 1994 and continues to be available at ten Manhattan restaurants via the Seamless delivery company. A trial period for the service began in June 2017, prior to a potential formal roll-out of the service nationwide over Autumn 2017. A press release by the UK branch of McDonald's cited promising growth in the takeaway delivery sector that could assure such a scheme's success in the country. McDelivery is carried out via UberEats. The current locations in the UK are: McDelivery McDelivery is a McDonald's service