A NATIONAL restaurant chain could be set to close its Newtown branch as part of plans to save money and lose between 500 and 600 jobs, the County Times has learned.
Little Chef announced on Wednesday that it will close 67 of its 161 sites across the UK.
Staff at the Newtown branch, which was boarded up this week, indicated that the restaurant would be closing, but officials at Little Chef said they could not comment on specific sites.
The roadside restaurant chain has earmarked 67 sites for closure, which have been “trading unprofitably for a number of years due to a variety of economic and locational factors.”
Staff at the Little Chef branches in Builth Wells and Trewern were unable to comment on whether they would be affected.
Little Chef’s remaining sites are all trading profitably, the company has said, but the closures are expected to result in the loss of between 500 and 600 jobs at sites across the country, subject to local consultations.
These jobs are a mixture of full and part-time roles. After this action, it is anticipated that the remaining workforce will number approximately 1,500 people.
Graham Sims, chairman of Little Chef, said: “When we acquired Little Chef four years ago we inherited a number of sites with leases that were uncompetitive.
“Despite very hard work from some very committed colleagues we have been unable to lift the performances of these sites to a level where they are viable.
“I know this will be tough and an uncertain time for many people in our team.”