Why BurgerFuel is closing all its stores for one day

BurgerFuel says it is "turning its attention" to its staff. Photo / Supplied

Burger brand BurgerFuel will not be opening its 57 stores tomorrow morning.

The NZX-listed fast food operator will instead be conducting a training day for all 900 of its staff up until 4pm.

BurgerFuel said it would be using the time closed tomorrow to "turn its attention" to its people.

"We've always placed a great deal of importance on our service, but customary to any franchised business, consistency across the system is often the main challenge," BurgerFuel country manager, Jason Lowery, said in the statement.

"We are always striving to provide a better customer experience, not just with the high quality of our food, but also our customer service."

Prior to disruption from Covid-19, BurgerFuel had planned a company-wide 'People & Culture' initiative, including a bespoke customer experience programme rollout.

The brand has just completed the first phase of the planned rollout, consisting of intensive full-day workshops created for the brand and delivered to every store in the country. More workshops will continue tomorrow.

To mark the completion of the first phase, franchisees will keep their doors closed for the day tomorrow to work with their staff on further "embedding the brand's values" and learnings gained from the workshops.

The day would also be an opportunity for BurgerFuel and franchisees to treat staff with a token of appreciation and some team bonding, in acknowledgement of their commitment and contribution throughout, what has been, a trying year, the company said.

Multi-store franchisee owner, James Stevenson, said the workshops, had so far been "engaging and solution-focused".

"The best aspect, from a store owner's perspective, is the way in which the sessions encourage all staff members to work collectively as a team, to come up with their own common goals on how they want the customer to feel."

BurgerFuel said it is committed to being "the best in class when it comes to customer service."