Starbucks to close branch at St Andrew's Quay retail park in Hull

STAFF at a Starbucks branch in Hull are waiting to hear if they will lose their jobs as the shop prepares for closure.

The branch at The Pod at St Andrew's Quay is due to shut on Sunday.

It was the first Starbucks to open in Hull and has about nine members of staff, who may not be relocated to other branches.

Jason Bradley, 27, who has worked at the coffee shop for two years, said: "We have a lot of regulars and one comes in six times a week from east Hull.

"It's a really local shop – you see the same people in here every day.

"It's more like Planet Coffee in Newland Avenue than a Starbucks branch and the views are wonderful up here, looking over the Humber.

"We get a lot of business people in and they have been sad to hear we are closing."

There are two other Starbucks branches in the city centre at St Stephen's shopping centre and in Jameson Street.

But motorists often use the shop at St Andrew's Quay on their way out of Hull or while visiting shops on the retail park.

David and Alison Veail live on the south bank in the village of Worlaby and come over to shop at St Andrew's Quay and grab a coffee.

Alison said: "We have three young children and don't always want to go to St Stephen's because it can be difficult to park. Our nearest Starbucks outside of Hull is Grimsby and we don't want to drive all that way.

"It will be a real shame when it closes because we use it quite often."

David said it is a "lovely venue" and praised the staff at the branch.

He said: "It's very handy and has such great views."

A spokesman for Starbucks said: "Like many other retailers, and as part of the normal course of our business over the year, we regularly review our stores to ensure they are contributing to a sustainable business.

"Consequently, we've taken the difficult decision to close our St Andrew's Quay store in Hull after so many years as part of the community.

"We are working closely with our employees and wherever possible hope to deploy them to other Starbucks stores."

Staff at other outlets inside The Pod are concerned about the affect it will have on business.

Katie Macdonald, manager of the O2 mobile phone store downstairs, said: "The coffee shop brings in a lot of business customers and they then pop in to see us.

"I think it could affect our footfall but they will have to replace it with something else, I don't know what.

"We've been here for about a year and we'd heard the Starbucks was closing.

"It will be a real shame if anybody loses their job.

"I will also miss going in there for a coffee, it's sad news for everyone."

Luisa Rodrigues, assistant manager at Subway, also downstairs in The Pod, said business is going well for them.

She said: "It may affect us but we are a lot busier than we used to be.

"It's lovely in the summer over here and people enjoy using the coffee shop and looking out over the Humber.

"When the sun is out we get a lot of customers in.

"It's a shame Starbucks is closing and we hope a good store replaces it."