Over 1,000 TGI Fridays staff made redundant as dozens of restaurants close

More than 1,000 TGI Fridays staff have been made redundant and 35 restaurants have closed with immediate effect.

It comes as the hospitality firm scrambled to sell its chain of 87 restaurants, including eight in Scotland, after plans to buy the US restaurant chain for £177m fell through.

On Monday, it was announced Breal Capital and Calveton UK acquired 51 restaurants after the group’s previous operator fell into administration.

But joint administrators at Teneo said 35 restaurants were not included in the sale and have been closed immediately, resulting in 1,012 redundancies.

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.”