[2] She was educated at Sevenoaks School and graduated from the University of Brighton with a first class degree in business studies.
[3] She began her career as a graduate marketing trainee with Colgate Palmolive.
[7] In May 2015, McDonald replaced Matt Davies (who left to join Tesco), as CEO of Halfords,[8] on a basic salary of £500,000 plus bonuses.
[4] In May 2017, McDonald was announced to be taking over Marks & Spencer's non-food business in the autumn, and in her role reported to CEO Steve Rowe.
[12][13] In November 2019, McDonald was named CEO of Costa Coffee, and started on 2 December 2019.