LOCAL businesses have reacted to the news that Airbus plans to cut 1,700 of its UK workforce.

Following the revelation on Tuesday evening - which Economy Minister Ken Skates warned could cause "economic devastation" - the Leader took to the streets of Broughton to get the views of local business about the potential knock-on effects the job losses at Airbus could have for them.

Airbus employs several thousand people at its Broughton site, and anticipated cuts of up to 1,000 people there has potentially far wider reaching consequences for the community, especially for small local businesses which rely on Airbus employees as one of their main sources of custom.

Sian Fagan, the manager of Thrifty's convenience store, has grave concerns about how the potential job losses could affect the shop and the community as a whole.

She said: "It's going to have massive impact, not just for Broughton but for the surrounding areas as well.

"Airbus has been here for long and provides careers for so many people - and are a pathway into employment with apprenticeships they offer, so it's a hugely uncertain time for everyone.

"We get an awful lot of business from Airbus employees - whether they're just coming in for a newspaper or a drink and a snack in between their shifts and without them doing so we'd see a big drop in trade.

"It's really worrying."

Tom Smith owns the New Glynne Arms in Bretton - which sits just yards away from Airbus.

He also owns a burger van which sits in front of the pub is open on a daily basis.

He said: "We get quite a few Airbus employees coming into the pub for a drink after their shift, and we have 12 guest rooms upstairs, and while it's obviously been shut since the start of lockdown, before that we'd have Airbus employees and contractors staying in the rooms every week.

"So if a large proportion of Airbus Broughton's workforce are going that's obviously going to affect us a lot, but not just us, it'll make a difference to everyone in the area."

The Leader:  Tom Smith (right), owner of the New Glynne Arms, and Andy Kerr, employee, at the pub's burger van. Tom Smith (right), owner of the New Glynne Arms, and Andy Kerr, employee, at the pub's burger van.

Mark Griffiths, owner of Premier Store in Broughton, said he's not immediately concerned as he doesn't know how much the redundancies will affect his business.

He said: "Truthfully I don't know how it'll affect us, I think we'll definitely see a reduction in morning business as that's when we get a lot of Airbus staff in - but I'm not hugely concerned.

"Only time will tell how much we'll be impacted."