More than 1,000 staff at TGI Fridays have been made redundant with the immediate closure of 35 restaurants following a rescue deal to acquire 51 sites, administrators for the group said.
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Breal Capital and Calveton UK have acquired 51 restaurants after the group’s previous operator fell into administration.
It means that nearly 2,400 jobs have been saved across the US-themed restaurant and cocktail bar.
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.”
Reports of the deal first emerged over the weekend with Sky News reporting that the “final details were still being ironed out”. TGI Fridays collapsed into administration last month with administrator Teneo being appointed to handle the chain. TGI Fridays parent company Hostmore blamed the collapse on a “very challenging set of circumstances”.
Their impending deal is understood to include the chain’s existing leases and the right to use the TGI Fridays brand in the UK.
Hostmore, the company that owns rights to the brand in the UK, collapsed into administration last month after an aborted American expansion.
It has plunged the fate of the chain’s 87 sites and 3,000 employees into doubt, with administrators at Teneo brought in to recover as much money as possible for creditors.
TGI Fridays first opened in the UK in the 1980s and has been a popular destination for birthday parties and cocktail nights for the last 40 years.
The first branch of TGI Fridays was opened in New York in 1965 to celebrate weekend dining – the name means “Thank God It’s Friday”. The chain spread rapidly around the country after first opening in Birmingham.