18 September 2024, 11:57 | Updated: 18 September 2024, 13:05
Picture:
Alamy
The UK operator of TGI Fridays has gone into administration as the hospitality firm scrambles to sell its chain of 87 restaurants across the country.
Hostmore said it had appointed administrators from Teneo after plans to buy the US restaurant chain collapsed earlier this month.
The company is in the process of trying to sell the UK restaurants to new owners, which it hopes to complete by the end of September.
This would keep the TGI Fridays brand alive on British high streets, although it is not clear at this stage whether some or all of the restaurants are likely to find a buyer.
The American-inspired restaurant chain continues to stay open as normal while the administration process starts.
Picture:
Alamy
All of the TGI Friday’s 87 UK outlets are in the process of being sold, affecting the following locations:
- Aberdeen Beach
- Aberdeen Union Square
- Ashton-under-Lyne
- Barnsley
- Basildon
- Birminghm
- Birmingham NEC
- Bluewater
- Bolton
- Bournemouth
- Bracknell
- Braehead
- Braintree
- Brighton Marina
- Cabot Circus
- Cardiff Newport Road
- Cardiff St David’s
- Castleford
- Cheadle
- Chelmsford
- Cheltenham
- Cheshire Oaks
- Coventry
- Crawley
- Cribbs Causeway
- Croydon
- Derby
- Doncaster
- Durham
- Edinburgh
- Enfield
- Fareham
- Fort Kinnaird
- Gateshead
- Glasgow Buchanan Street
- Glasgow Fort
- Gloucester Quays
- Halifax
- High Wycombe
- Jersey
- Lakeside Quay
- Lakeside Retail Park
- Leeds Junction 27
- Leeds Wellington Bridge Street
- Leeds White Rose
- Leicester
- Lincoln
- Liverpool One
- Liverpool Speke
- London Leicester Square
- London Stratford City
- London the O2
- Manchester Royal Exchange
- Meadowhall
- Metro Centre Gateshead
- Milton Keynes
- Milton Keynes Stadium
- Newcastle Eldon Square
- Newport Friars Walk
- Northampton
- Norwich
- Nottingham
- Prestwich
- Reading
- Romford
- Rushden Lakes
- Sale
- Sheffield
- Silverburn
- Solihull
- Southampton Retail Park
- Staines
- Stevenage
- Teesside
- Telford
- Trafford Centre
- Trinity Leeds
- Walsall
- Watford Central
- Watford North
- Wembley
- West Quay
Picture:
Alamy
After first opening in Birmingham, the restaurant chain spread rapidly around the UK with its format of casual American bistro-style dining popular with children and families.
The collapse of the London-listed hospitality business comes after plans to buy the US restaurant chain for £177 million fell through earlier this month.
It would have merged with US-based TGI Fridays Inc, to create a larger firm that would remain listed in London.
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But the takeover plans were dropped after a management change which would have meant it could not collect royalties from the TGI Fridays brand.
Hostmore shares tanked by more than 90% after the news earlier in September, as shareholders took the brunt. Its shares are now worth less than 0.2 pence per share.
Its shares have now been suspended from the London Stock Exchange and the public company will be delisted and wound up.
TGI Fridays’ biggest market is in the US where there are 128 restaurants, including franchised sites, and it operates more than 270 in countries around the world.