EIGHT staff are being made redundant at the Gourmet Burger Kitchen restaurant in Oldham's flagship Old Town Hall retail development when it closes down on Sunday (May 20).

A member of staff confirmed the news over the telephone today before declining to comment further.

The outlet was GBK's 80th restaurant when it opened in December 2016. However, footfall in the Old Town Hall has been disappointing with only half the units rented out.

The Oldham Times has contacted GBK for comment. Oldham Council is the landlord for the Old Town Hall.

Cillr Abdul Jabbar, Oldham Council deputy leader, said: “We’re disappointed for Gourmet Burger Kitchen staff and their customers, but there is a very positive flip side to this story too.”

“We’ve proactively been in talks with GBK and potential replacement tenants for several weeks and hope to be in a position to announce an exciting newcomer to that unit very soon. In addition to that, I can also reveal that we are close to letting two more units within the Old Town Hall development and more details will follow as soon as we have completed these deals.  

“Nationally we know there have been problems with the premium burger market. Recent months have seen closures for brands like Byron Burger and The HandMade Burger Co, for example - so this is not about Oldham, it’s about national market conditions.

“We’ve been working alongside GBK to mitigate the impact of this and to help their staff find alternative employment through the Get Oldham Working team.”