TGI Fridays secures rescue deal – but with loss of more than 1,000 jobs

TGI Fridays will remain on UK high streets after a rescue deal was secured for the restaurant chain – but more than 1,000 staff have lost their jobs. 

Thirty-five restaurants are closing immediately after they were not included in the sale, resulting in 1,012 redundancies.

However, 51 sites have been rescued in the sale to Breal Capital and Calveton, a day after Sky News reported a deal was being finalised.

It means nearly 2,400 jobs have been saved across the chain.

Trade union Unite said on X that staff had been shut out of restaurants with padlocks on the doors changed, while others were invited to a video call with members of the head office with one hour’s notice.

Other workers said they had not been told whether or not they will be paid, according to the trade union.

TFI Fridays’ parent company Hostmore said it was filing for administration last month due to debt problems.

The restaurants being saved are:

Bluewater
Trafford Centre
Meadowhall
Aberdeen Union Square
Metrocentre
Basildon
Glasgow Fort
Milton Keynes Stadium
Braehead
Wembley
Birmingham NEC
Glasgow
Junction 27
Castleford
Lakeside Quay
Teesside
Bolton
Norwich
St Davids
Doncaster
Lakeside
Fareham
Liverpool One
Stevenage
White Rose
Cribbs Causeway
Rushden Lakes
Stoke-on-Trent
Southampton
Silverburn
Watford Central
Aberdeen Beach
Braintree
Bournemouth
Stratford
High Wycombe
Cheshire Oaks
Walsall
Milton Keynes
Sheffield
Nottingham
Edinburgh
Coventry
Ashton-Under-Lyne
Telford
The O2
Staines
Crawley
Reading
Cheadle
Leicester Square.

Julie McEwan, chief executive of TGI Fridays UK, said: “The news today marks the start of a positive future for our business following a very challenging period for the casual dining sector as a whole.

“We are devastated for our colleagues who will be leaving TGIs and thank them for their loyalty and contribution during their time with us.

“We are doing everything possible to retain our team and support those impacted.”

New private equity owners Breal and Calveton jointly own upmarket restaurant chain D&D London, and between them have had investments in Byron Burger and wine bar chain Vinoteca.