STAFF at a pub and restaurant by Rhyl’s seafront are at risk of being made redundant.

The Submariner Cookhouse and Pub, on West Parade, is currently undergoing a period of “consultation”, but remains open and trading nonetheless.

Whitbread PLC, the company responsible for the pub, said it is providing “dedicated support” to the members of staff.

It comes after Whitbread revealed in April plans to cut its workforce by approximately 1,500.

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A Whitbread spokesperson said: “Whilst we have announced proposals which could impact the site, it is important to note they are subject to consultation.

“We recognise that this will be unsettling for our team members, and we are providing them with dedicated support.

“We are committed to working hard to enable as many as possible of our affected team members to stay with us by either transferring into new roles, or by taking up other vacancies across the business more broadly through our existing recruitment activity.”

The Journal was made aware of this by a source who claimed that restaurant staff had received redundancy notices.

“It makes no sense as they (staff) have always met their targets and have excelled in them,” the source added.

In April, Whitbread revealed a 13 per cent increase in sales for the last financial year, a well as a 36 per cent growth in adjusted profit before tax to £561million.

Though, its report added: “Whilst our UK hotel performance has gone from strength to strength, the performance of some of our branded restaurants has been impacted by a reduction in footfall from non-hotel guests, with the result that they have struggled to meet their targeted levels of return.

“Having responded to this shift in demand with several commercial initiatives, we have continued to explore ways that can further improve the service to our hotel guests, whilst also enhancing our financial performance.  

“Over the next 24 months, we plan to replace around 112 of our lower-returning branded restaurants with integrated restaurants and use the vacated space to add new higher returning hotel rooms to help meet strong demand.”

In the financial year 2023-24, Whitbread said, these branded restaurants generated an adjusted loss before tax of £19m.

It added: “Over the next 24 months, we are planning to exit 126 branded restaurants; they will continue to operate as they do now so that they can be sold as going concerns.

“Of these restaurants, we have agreed to sell 21 for £28m. In 2023-24, these restaurants on aggregate generated revenue of £147m and a pre-tax loss of £9m.

“The proceeds from these disposals will be used to help fund our investment in building a more tailored, integrated restaurant at our affected hotels as well as the construction of new hotel rooms across the estate.

“The plan we are announcing today will result in the reduction of around 1,500 roles out of a total workforce of 37,000. 

“While these plans are still subject to consultation, we will seek to find alternative opportunities, wherever possible, through the roles created by this programme and our existing recruitment process that makes circa 15,000 hires each year.

“We expect to retain a significant proportion of those who wish to remain with us and we will be providing dedicated support to our teams.”