WORKERS at Byron Burger in Salisbury have spoken of their shock after they lost their jobs. 

Famously Proper, which owns Byron and fried chicken brand Mother Clucker, closed nine of its 21 restaurants including Salisbury's Byron Burger on Friday, January 13 after it fell into administration. 

The collapse was blamed on rises in costs, such as food and utilities, as well as a reduction in consumer spending due to the current cost-of-living crisis.

Managers received the notice at 8.30am during a video call, in turn notifying other employees at 9am via an online messaging system.

The employees had just three hours to retrieve personal belongings from the workplace before managers’ keys were handed over at noon.

Assistant manager Jessica Robinson, who had worked at the restaurant for five years, and her fiancé Jake Croughton, who worked as the head chef, first learned that up to 10 locations would be closing via Sky News article a few days before.

Jessica said: “That’s where we found out that 10 restaurants were closing. We weren’t told what restaurants.”

Of the 218 people across the UK who lost their jobs, 24 worked in Salisbury.

Jessica believes the choice of locations to close appears to have been one of geographic convenience for the London-based company.

Jessica said: “They’ve only got 11 restaurants left now and they’re all quite close together.”

Jessica said the Salisbury Byron Burger was not for want of customers near the end of its existence. 

She said: “Christmas was a really busy period, the lead-up to Christmas was really, really busy. We’ve been making the most money that we’ve done in about two years."

Jake said hourly paid employees received their last pay cheque on Thursday, but those working in salaried positions will have to claim the final two weeks of their pay back.

They said the news came as such a surprise as the Salisbury venue continued to receive shipments of food on the last day.

Jake said: “We were completely unaware that on Friday it was going to happen, because we had just received a delivery from the weekend.”

READ MORE: Byron Burger to close as Famously Proper goes into administration

According to Jessica and Jake, leftover food was disposed of after calls to food banks were unsuccessful.

Jake explained that some employees who were not scheduled for work that morning had to abandon other plans and commitments to retrieve personal belongings. 

Jake said everyone was “gutted” with the turn of events, as employees had turned into a very cohesive group.

He said: “Everyone’s gutted. We were a massive family."

Administrators from Interpath Advisory were appointed on Friday, January 13. 

They said the company has been sold in a pre-pack administration to Tristar Foods, a new company linked to Calveton. 

Claire Winder and Chris Pole, joint administrators for the company, said the remaining 12 sites and 365 jobs will transfer to the buyer.