THE MANAGING director of The Fat Boar has pledged improvements after his restaurant was given a zero food hygiene rating. 

The Fat Boar, Mold, temporarily closed its doors in early October to undergo a major revamp. 

Part of the reason for the closure was that on September 26, the pub and restaurant was handed a zero out of five food hygiene rating following an inspection by the Food Standards Agency. 

"Major improvement" was deemed necessary in cleanliness and condition of facilities and building and management of food safety.

Richard Watkin, director of Bardonrich Ltd which runs The Fat Boar, has pledged that improvements have been made ahead of its reopening on November 13. 

Mr Watkin said: "For obvious reasons, it’s not something that we are proud of. We’ve had a full review of how we do things. We took the decision to close as I felt it was the best course of action to re-assess what had gone wrong in the building. This was our decision and not one forced upon us.

"As a company, we were very proud that all our businesses (Fat Boar, Wrexham and Carniboar Steakhouse) had a five-star rating, as did Mold, which had been inspected in June. From June until September unfortunately we lost our way and as a management team had to take full responsibility for the issue.

"Re-training, the implementation of extra expenditure programme into the site and crucially the appointment of a new kitchen team who have the passion and knowledge to ensure it never happens again has now taken place."

Mr Watkin continued: "We’ve worked closely with the local authority and kept them updated throughout the process. While we fully accept people will be concerned and sceptical the proof will be in the literal pudding. It is fixed. We have an open kitchen, and anyone who wishes to see the work, meet the chefs or speak to our newly appointed operations director, who is based in Mold, will be more than welcome to.

"We’ve been open eight years, we know we’ve made mistakes, none bigger than this, but we can only look forward, and get back to what made us a success when we bought a derelict building and opened all those years ago."

Mr Watkin said it is a "large bump in the road", but one a business in the hospitality industry could encounter.

MORE NEWS: 

"It’s our fault, and it’s our job to fix it," he said, "and give the public the confidence to come back and see us. We will obviously be re-applying for a new score at the earliest opportunity, and have complete confidence that Mold will return to having an excellent score on the doors like our other businesses.

"We’re devastated, embarrassed, hurt and sorry, but we will put it right. As a company we will do everything we can with the team to ensure we are never in this position again.

"No business wants to go through this, but when you hit rock bottom the only thing to do is ensure you come back stronger. That is what we have been working at while we’ve been closed and that is what we will do and show the public."