▁Peter ▁R itch ie , ▁the ▁first ▁man aging ▁director ▁of ▁Mc Donald ' s ▁Australia ▁said ▁of ▁him ▁" He ▁was ▁ready ▁to ▁tell ▁us ▁how ▁the ▁place ▁should ▁have ▁been ▁run ▁from ▁ 1 5 ▁on wards ". ▁Bell ▁was ▁assistant ▁manager ▁at ▁ 1 8 , ▁and ▁at ▁ 1 9 , ▁he ▁became ▁the ▁young est ▁store ▁manager ▁in ▁Mc Donald ' s ▁Australia . ▁At ▁age ▁ 2 9 ▁he ▁was ▁on ▁the ▁board ▁of ▁the ▁Australian ▁subs idi ary , ▁becoming ▁its ▁man aging ▁director ▁at ▁ 3 3 . ▁ ▁He ▁quickly ▁rose ▁through ▁the ▁ranks ▁of ▁corpor ate ▁Mc Donald ' s . ▁Bell ▁was ▁appointed ▁President ▁and ▁Chief ▁Oper ating ▁Officer , ▁when ▁Jim ▁Cant al up o ▁( former ▁Mc Donald ' s ▁International ▁CE O ) ▁returned ▁to ▁the ▁company ▁on ▁January ▁ 1 , ▁ 2 0 0 3 ▁as ▁Chair man ▁and ▁CE O ▁of ▁corpor ate ▁Mc Donald ' s ▁to ▁lead ▁a ▁turn around ▁effort . ▁Under ▁Cant al up o ' s ▁prede cess or ▁Jack ▁M . ▁Green berg , ▁the ▁company ▁suffered ▁ear nings ▁decl ines ▁in ▁each ▁of ▁the ▁last ▁seven ▁qu arters . ▁Share hold ers ▁were ▁initially ▁not ▁im pressed ▁with ▁Cant al up o ▁and ▁Bell ' s ▁appoint ments ▁as ▁it ▁suggested ▁that ▁the ▁company ▁was ▁" in bre d ". ▁However , ▁Cant al up o ▁" de vised ▁a ▁plan " ▁which ▁included ▁" ac cel er ating