TGI Fridays falls into administration with eight Scottish sites put up for sale

The UK operator of TGI Fridays has gone into administration as the hospitality firm scrambles to sell its chain of 87 restaurants, including eight in Scotland.

Hostmore said it had appointed joint administrators from Teneo.

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 and save thousands of jobs.

But it said earlier this month that it was not expecting to “recover any meaningful value” from the sale of sites, meaning it would earn less from the sale than it owes to creditors and banks.

It is also not clear whether it will secure a buyer for the entire chain, or whether it will manage to sell some but not all of the restaurants.

The American-inspired restaurant chain is open as normal while the administration process starts.

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.

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.

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