TGI Fridays shuts 35 restaurants, causing 1,012 job losses

The administrators of Thursdays UK, the company overseeing the operation of TGI Fridays in Britain, said on Monday that 35 of the group’s restaurants in the country have been closed, leading to 1,012 job losses.

The sale of 51 sites to Breal Capital and Calveton UK was completed as part of the process, the administrators said in a statement.

Calveton UK and Breal Capital, owners of upscale restaurants like Le Pont de la Tour, Quaglino’s, and Coq d’Argent, have acquired 51 TGI Fridays locations from Teneo, the joint administrator. This deal will save 2,389 jobs.

Unfortunately, 35 TGI Fridays restaurants were not included in the sale and have been forced to close immediately. This has resulted in the loss of 1,012 jobs. Affected locations include Barnsley, Chelmsford, Dundee, Durham, Leeds, Newcastle, Northampton, Halifax, and Swansea.

The closures and job losses have sparked anger from the trade union, Unite. Unite Hospitality claims that staff were locked out of their workplaces and received only one hour’s notice of a Zoom meeting at the company’s headquarters.

Bryan Simpson, a Unite lead organizer for hospitality, criticized the way TGI Fridays treated its workers. He stated that closing venues without any notice and locking employees out of their workplaces was a “national disgrace” and a “moral outrage.” Simpson expressed Unite’s support for its TGI members during this difficult time.