How’s this for a happy meal? Terry Eagle took a part-time job at a McDonald’s in South London in 1976. Fifty years later, he owns six of them.
Eagle started as a teenage crew member, greeting customers and running the register. Four years in, at just 19, he was promoted to manager. From there, he applied to become a franchisee and opened his first Arches in Camberwell before eventually growing his footprint to six restaurants across South London, according to People.
“Starting out as a crew member, I never could have imagined the journey ahead of me,” Eagle, now 65, says.
Eagle has used his position to give back, advocating for hiring people with disabilities, working with local police to help lower crime, and raising more than $200,000 for Ronald McDonald House UK. He’s picked up a commendation from the Metropolitan Police and three Parliamentary awards along the way.
In July, his team threw him a surprise 50th anniversary celebration, where he wore a tie that Fred Turner, the former CEO of McDonald’s U.S., gave him years ago. “For me, business has always been about more than just the numbers,” Eagle says. “It’s about people.”