McDonald's Leeds: New 24-hour fast food restaurant opens in the M1 Skelton Lake services

The branch in Skelton Lake services, off the M1 at junction 45, opened to the public on Wednesday (November 22). The restaurant is now open for dine-in, takeaway and McDelivery and its opening hours are 24 hours, seven days a week.

The new restaurant has created around 80 new full and part-time jobs for the local community. It features 12 self-service kiosks and a shared seating area in the Extra-operated motorway service area.

Taking the place of the former Burger King unit, it will join Nando’s, Pizza Express, KFC, Leon and Starbucks at the services. The fast food site has opened thanks to investment from local franchisee Anne Wainwright, who owns and operates eight McDonald’s restaurants across Yorkshire.

Anne said: “We are delighted to be opening another brand-new McDonald’s restaurant in Leeds and can’t wait to see both visitors and local customers, enjoy our services on offer.

"People are at the heart of our business, and we look forward to welcoming new employees with the jobs our restaurant will create. We’re committed to investing in opportunities for a mix of all ages, life stages and backgrounds, promoting flexibility and equality”.

First opened in April 2020, Leeds Skelton Lake was recently revealed to be one of the top ten service stations in the UK. The 2023 Transport Focus Motorway Service Users survey saw MSA praised for its award-winning design complete with living green roof, extensive EV charging provision, children’s outdoor play area and RSPB visitor centre.

In the same survey, Extra MSA was crowned Britain’s number one motorway service operator, having ranked top of the “big four” for overall customer satisfaction in 2023.

Tom Dobson, CEO at Extra MSA Group, said: “Though we’ve only recently been recognised by Transport Focus for our commitment for going the ‘Extra mile’, we won’t be resting on our laurels.

"The opening of McDonalds at Leeds Skelton Lake will provide a significant boost to our already strong food and drink offering, and its 24-hour opening times will also ensure that visitors to Leeds Skelton Lake can be fed and watered, no matter what time of day or night they arrive”.