Hundreds of jobs to be lost in TGI Fridays insolvency plan

Hundreds of British hospitality workers look losing their jobs successful the coming days arsenic the proprietor of TGI Fridays finalises plans to bargain backmost a slimmed-down mentation of 1 of Britain's best-known casual eating chains.

Sky News has learnt that Sugarloaf TGIF Management, which lone took power of TGI Fridays 2 months ago, is preparing to instrumentality a pre-pack medication of the concern successful a woody which is expected to instrumentality spot adjacent week.

Insiders said a transaction was expected to impact the closure of a important proportionality of the estate's 49 restaurants.

One suggested that betwixt 15 and 20 of the sites could beryllium permanently axed, though the last fig is inactive being worked connected and has yet to beryllium determined.

They cautioned that a woody could yet beryllium delayed beyond adjacent week.

A pre-pack insolvency involves a purchaser being lined up for a institution oregon its assets without its fiscal liabilities, instantly aft the assignment of administrators takes place.

If the pre-pack script and tract closure program does materialise, it would inevitably mean hundreds of TGI Fridays' astir 2,000-strong workforce successful the UK being made redundant.

Interpath Advisory has been lined up to grip the pre-pack administration, with 2 notices of volition to name the steadfast having been filed successful the run-up to Christmas.

A institution spokesperson told Sky News connected Friday: "TGI Fridays UK is inactive assessing each options for the aboriginal of the business.

"No decisions person been made yet and locations proceed to run arsenic usual."

The situation astatine TGI Fridays represents different stroke to the hospitality sector, with bosses complaining bitterly astir the interaction of nationalist security and different taxation hits successful chancellor Rachel Reeves's Budgets successful 2024 and 2025.

The concatenation was enactment up for merchantability successful November, conscionable a fewer weeks aft Sugarloaf TGIF Management, a institution tally by the chain's erstwhile main executive, Ray Blanchette, bought it.

Under Breal and Calveton, its erstwhile owners, the show of the concern was said to person stabilised.

They had acquired the concatenation from London-listed Hostmore, nether the ownership of which a erstwhile insolvency filing had taken spot successful 2024.

At that point, TGI Fridays traded from adjacent to 90 UK restaurants.

The institution declined to remark connected the details of the imaginable pre-pack deal.