Local residents and McDonald’s licensees, Ian and Kathryn Garton, have been named in the nation’s top one per cent after winning the prestigious Golden Spatula Award.
The Golden Spatula is one of the highest honours a McDonald’s licensee in Australia can achieve and was awarded to Mr and Mrs Garton, owners of four restaurants in the area, last month.
The award was in recognition of their performance and efficient customer service along with their involvement and contribution to the Penrith community.
Mr and Mrs Garton were shocked to receive the award and said that they were “quick to accept” the honour.
“We certainly are ecstatic to have received a golden spatula. In McDonald’s terms, they award it to the top one per cent in the nation. It is fantastic to be recognised for the work we do, not only with McDonald’s but within the community,” said Mr Garton.
“We didn’t expect it. When opening our first store, we certainly had the intention to do the very best that we could and the fact that this has come along, in some ways as a reward, has made us very happy.”
Both Mr and Mrs Garton began their careers as crew members in McDonald’s stores and they met at the High Street Penrith store, which they now call one of their own.
The couple opened their first store in 1998 and now employ over 400 local people, many of whom are school students and in their first job.
“We also help out the community a lot. One of our favourites is handing out scholarships to local schools. Each restaurant that we own supports a local sporting team and we have big roles in local charities. Our work with Ronald McDonald Charity House in Westmead is stretching out to Penrith,” said Mr Garton.
“There is much more that we can do in the community and we look forward to doing it.”
In particular, the couple hopes to see through the development of a Ronald McDonald Family Room at Nepean Hospital in the near future.
Mr and Mrs Garton attended the annual McDonald’s Worldwide Convention in Florida, Orlando where the Golden Spatula Award recipients were announced.
