Eric Bonnot, General Manager
So how does a bigwig like Eric Bonnot, Burger King UK's General Manager, earn the big bucks anyway? Often, by setting and guiding corporate strategy. (And working what he calls "very long hours.") It looks like a busy year ahead for the French-born GM. Bonnot has established the goal -- and is leading the corporate effort -- to grow the fast-food chain from more than 650 locations to over 1,000 in Britain. Along the way, he'll also face rising public concerns over mad cow disease and try to keep up with, or ahead of, the competition.
Oh, and one other minor detail: For one week, Bonnot will be taken from his well-appointed executive offices and put to work on the hot broilers and greasy fryers at one of Burger King's locations in tough, working-class Liverpool.

Sure, Bonnot has proven experience and has achieved success on the corporate ladder. But the mild-mannered suit has never worked a day behind the counter at one of his company's establishments, never toiled alongside the minimum-wage earners his success is built upon, never cooked and constructed a Gold Whopper.

Can he stand the heat at one of his company's busiest restaurants? Or will he have to get out of the kitchen?

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