Executive biographies

Denis Hennequin is President of McDonald’s Europe and is responsible for the company’s 6,600 restaurants in 39 countries.

Denis began his career at McDonald’s in 1984 as an Assistant Store Manager, assuming various responsibilities in the field service area. He continued to rise through the organisation holding numerous positions including Store Manager, Training and Recruiting Consultant, Field Service Consultant, Director of Franchising, Director of Operations and Regional Manager for Paris and surrounding suburbs.

In 1996, Denis was appointed as President and Managing Director for McDonald’s France. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Operations, Human Resources, Development and Regional Coordination. Denis was subsequently appointed as Executive Vice President for McDonald’s Europe, before becoming President of Europe in 2005.
In 2009, Denis was also recognised as CNBC European Business Leader of the Year - Global/Local 2009.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Master’s degree in Private International and Social Law from Paris II.

Denis lives in Paris and is married with three children.
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Jim Fox is Chief Restaurant Officer for McDonald’s Europe Limited where he heads up the European Operations, Equipment and Training team. Under his leadership, the team is responsible for the alignment of operations, training, operating platforms and equipment standards throughout Europe.

In addition, the team are also responsible for supporting local markets across Europe to improve the customer experience, working closely with each of McDonald’s Europe’s four divisions: Northern, Southern, Western and Eastern and company lead of European Food Improvement Team. Jim is also a member of the European Marketing Leadership Team.

Jim started at McDonald’s in 1969 as a crew person in Hamilton, Canada. He has worked in various Operations, Field Service and Training roles throughout his career. Prior to coming to Europe, he was the Vice President of National Operations in Canada.

Jim has served as an Advisory Director for the Canadian Board. He is a recipient of the prestigious Presidents Award, Golden Arch Partner and three-time winner of the Global McDonald’s Team Award. One of those awards was in recognition of Jim leading the development and then introduction of McFlurry to the McDonalds system. He recently completed the Oxford Strategic Leadership Program at the University of Oxford.

Jim is currently leading the European Food Improvement Team and working on the development of the future Service Platforms for the McDonalds system.

Jim is married to his wife, Patti and has four children. He first fell in love with Europe when he was a member of the Canadian National Water Polo team, where he played in places such as Budapest, Bratislava, Belgrade, Malta, Holland, France, Austria, Italy and Spain.
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Karl Fritz is Chief Supply Chain Officer for McDonald’s Europe, a role he has held since May 2008.

Karl’s current role at the company builds on a 16 year career at McDonald’s which has included senior roles in finance and operations as AVP Finance for Central Europe/Asia, AVP Operations for Central Europe/ Asia, MD for the Ukraine and Director of Finance for Central Europe. Prior to his appointment as Chief Supply Chain Officer, Karl was MD for McDonald’s Italy where he successfully led a major turnaround of the business.

In his current role, Karl has responsibility for the management of product supply and availability, price negations and contingency for the company’s 6,600 restaurants in 39 countries.

Prior to joining McDonald’s, Karl held positions at ITT Corporation, ITT Courier, Alcatel and RHI-VMAG.

Karl has an MBA in Finance/Audit from the Vienna School of Economics and holds executive qualifications in Retail Marketing, Mergers & Acquisitions and Activity based costing from Insead. Karl is married with one son.

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Chris Hammer is Senior Vice-President, McDonald’s Europe and General Counsel International. He is a member of the European Management Team.

Chris joined McDonald’s in 1993 as Legal Counsel for Central Europe. In 1999, he assumed responsibility for the European legal department and then for APMEA in 2005.

Prior to joining McDonald’s, Chris worked for a number of law firms including CHS Attorneys at Law, Vienna for two years, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, New York for one year. He has been admitted as an Attorney at Law in Austria and New York.

Chris is a member of the Board and Secretary of ACCE (Association of Corporate Counsel Europe), and a member of the International Bar Association.

He is Austrian and is married with two children.
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Julian Hilton-Johnson is Chief of Staff to Denis Hennequin, President – McDonald’s Europe, and VP Corporate Relations. Julian joined McDonald’s UK in 1999 as Head of Legal Services. He was promoted to Vice President, UK General Counsel and Company Secretary in 2000 and to VP Corporate Affairs in 2001. In 2007 he was appointed Chief of Staff to Steve Easterbrook, President - Northern Division, McDonald’s Europe and assumed responsibility for Corporate Affairs in the Northern Division.

In the UK, Julian chaired the Company Pension Scheme, was Secretary to the Advisory Board and was a Trustee and Company Secretary of RMHC.

In 2008, Julian was appointed Chief of Staff and VP Corporate Relations for McDonald’s Europe. He also assumed responsibility for HR in relation to McDonald’s Europe staff. The European Communications, Government Relations and HR teams report to him.

Prior to McDonald’s, Julian held positions within Diageo at Burger King Europe, Middle East, Africa, at Freshfields, solicitors in London and Madrid, and was previously a Research Assistant at the House of Commons.

Julian has an Honours Degree in Spanish, Portuguese & French. He lives in Oxfordshire with his wife and three sons and in his spare time enjoys horse riding, gliding and target rifle shooting.
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Steve was appointed President and CEO of McDonald’s UK in April 2006 and President, Northern Division, McDonald’s Europe in January 2007 with responsibility for the UK, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and the Republic of Ireland. Steve’s current roles at McDonald’s build on a 15 year career within the company which has included senior roles in finance and operations.

Under Steve’s leadership, the company has embarked on a wide-ranging strategy to improve the experience for the two million customers McDonald’s serves each day in the UK. Most visible have been a major restaurant design and re-imaging programme, innovation on the menu and investment in staff training.

Steve holds a number of key roles outside McDonald’s, including chairing the CBI’s Education and Skills Committee. He also sits on the CBI’s Chairmen’s Committee and is a member of the President’s Group of the Employers’ Forum on Disability.

In 2008 Steve was admitted to Oxford University as a Visiting Fellow, to lecture on Corporate Reputation. He is also a member of the steering group of The Prince’s Rainforests Project. The project draws together people from governments, business and NGO’s to help find practical solutions to tackle tropical deforestation.

Born in Watford in 1967, Steve attended Watford Boys Grammar School before studying Natural Sciences at Durham University. Prior to joining McDonald’s in 1993, Steve enjoyed a successful career as an accountant with Price Waterhouse.
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