McDonald's serves 1.3bn UK diners Jill McDonald, the UK chief executive, said: "Whichever way you cut it, our business is seeing momentum and comes after five years of consistent investment. Our customers are rewarding us for more comfortable restaurants, longer, more convenient opening hours, better quality ingredients and low prices. The company was helped particularly by opening its outlets earlier, which attracted commuters on their way to work. Sales of coffee increased by at least 13pc on the year before. About 40pc of the restaurants are now open for 24 hours for at least a couple of days of the week. This is compared with just 2pc of restaurants back in 2006. The financial results came as the company announced it would create 2,500 jobs this year in the UK, with about 30pc of them going to first-time workers. The group, which now has 32,000 outlets around the world, said group turnover increased by 12pc to $27bn, with net income increasing 11pc to $5.5bn. This is the ninth consecutive year that sales have increased. The shares dipped $2.2 to $98.75 on profit taking.