Staff shocked as Burger King say branch will shut (From York Press)

Staff shocked as Burger King say branch will shut

10:23am Tuesday 19th June 2007 in News By Gerran Grimshaw

STAFF have been left shocked and stunned after hearing the fast food restaurant where they work will close its doors at the end of the week.

Burger King has taken the decision to close its flagship city centre branch, in High Ousegate, York.

The burger bar now only has outlets at Clifton Moor and the station.

A spokeswoman for Burger King said: "In the course of normal business, we continuously review our worldwide restaurant portfolio and make strategic decisions based on many factors, including development opportunities, market conditions, restaurant profitability, lease length and overall brand presence.

"We are currently working closely with all our staff from this restaurant in an effort to identify opportunities for employment at a nearby Burger King.

"We are confident that this will be possible for the majority of the team."

But a worker at the restaurant, who asked not to be named, said most of the 30 members of staff and management would not be able to travel to work at restaurants outside of York city centre.

The member of staff, who has worked at the High Ousegate outlet for three years, said: "On Thursday, we got calls from our management saying we all had to come in for a meeting.

"They told us the lease was coming up and that the branch wasn't making enough money, so it was closing.

"We were all gutted, we couldn't believe it - we all really like our jobs."

She said the branch had been owned by a franchisee, but when the company went into administration about a year ago, Burger King bought the outlet.

"We really didn't think it would come to this," she said.

We thought they might sell it on or something like that. When management told us the doors would be closing, there was just shock on everyone's faces.

"And only giving us one week's notice is a bit tough."

The closure is the latest in a string of setbacks for the fast food retailer in York.

In December, The Press reported how the forthcoming ban on advertising fast food aimed at children could cost Burger King up to £100 million in UK sales this year.

Last October, 20 staff at the Monks Cross outlet - operated by Cairnserve Ltd - lost their jobs when the restaurant suddenly closed.