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Is TGI Fridays closing across the UK? Which restaurants have been put up for sale? What's the latest on the administration process? All the latest updates explained.
TGI Fridays opened their first restaurant in the UK in Birmingham in the 1980s, 15 years after the brand opened its first location in New York in 1965.
Since then, TGI Fridays has become a staple of the UK high street, offering American-style meals and a feel good atmosphere to diners. This makes it even more heartbreaking that the brand (meaning 'Thank God It’s Friday') has officially entered into administration.
The UK operator confirmed it has gone into administration today, Wednesday, 18th September, sharing that plans to sell restaurants are currently being drawn up.
Hostmore, who owns TGI Fridays, said that it has appointed administrators from Teneo to oversee the process. This comes after plans to buy the chain collapsed earlier this September.
They have a total of 87 restaurants across the UK, all of which have been put up for sale with hopes this move could keep the franchise on the high street.
The sale of these TGI Fridays locations are expected to be completed by the end of the month, with the restaurants remaining open as normal until the administration process starts.
The full list of 87 TGI Fridays restaurants up for sale:
In a statement issued to the London Stock Exchange, Hostmore said: “The board is immensely proud of all Hostmore colleagues, both in store and in the support centre, who worked tirelessly to execute a turnaround programme over the past 18 months and to deliver a successful result on the proposed acquisition of TGI Fridays, Inc.
“The board inherited a very challenging set of circumstances, but a focus on reducing costs, revising the group’s capital allocation policy and implementing both board and senior management changes, meant that the group was able to reduce annualised expenditures by £12million, significantly reduce losses from unprofitable stores, and operate the group’s stores at a best in class efficiency level for the sector, all while improving guest scores to our highest levels on record.
“Unfortunately, all of the board’s efforts to implement a lasting solution to support the long-term financial future of the business came against a highly challenging trading and macroeconomic backdrop, and efforts to create value for shareholders through the proposed acquisition of TGI Fridays, while well-advanced, encountered adverse events outside of the board’s control."