The chief executive of McDonald's admitted on Monday that the world's largest burger chain is "not on our game" as he announced sweeping changes designed to revitalise the company which is rapidly losing customers to a new breed of customer-focused fast-food chains.

"The reality is our recent performance has been poor. The numbers don't lie," Steve Easterbrook, McDonald's new president, said on Monday as he ripped up the company's global corporate structure in a plan to "shape McDonald's future as a modern, progressive burger company".

Easterbrook, a Briton who took over as chief executive on 1 March, said he would "return excitement to our proposition and brand". In a 23-minute video he said: "The message is clear we are not on our game … We must improve, or we will be selling our customers short and leaving open opportunities for competitors."

Easterbrook said he was "not interested in average for this business" and the company needed more "hard-edged accountability".