Hundreds of British hospitality workers face losing their jobs in the coming days as the owner of TGI Fridays finalises plans to buy back a slimmed-down version of one of Britain’s best-known casual dining chains.
Sky News has learnt that Sugarloaf TGIF Management, which only took control of TGI Fridays two months ago, is preparing to implement a pre-pack administration of the business in a deal which is expected to take place next week.
Insiders said a transaction was expected to involve the closure of a significant proportion of the estate’s 49 restaurants.
One suggested that between 15 and 20 of the sites could be permanently axed, although the final number is still being worked on and has yet to be determined.
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They cautioned that a deal could yet be delayed beyond next week.
A pre-pack insolvency involves a buyer being lined up for a company or its assets without its financial liabilities, immediately after the appointment of administrators takes place.
If the pre-pack scenario and site closure plan does materialise, it would inevitably mean hundreds of TGI Fridays’ nearly 2,000-strong workforce in the UK being made redundant.
Interpath Advisory has been lined up to handle the pre-pack administration, with two notices of intention to appoint the firm having been filed in the run-up to Christmas.
A company spokesperson told Sky News on Friday: “TGI Fridays UK is still assessing all options for the future of the business.
“No decisions have been made yet and locations continue to operate as usual.”
The crisis at TGI Fridays represents another blow to the hospitality sector, with bosses complaining bitterly about the impact of national insurance and other tax hits in chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Budgets in 2024 and 2025.
The chain was put up for sale in November, just a few weeks after Sugarloaf TGIF Management, a company run by the chain’s former chief executive, Ray Blanchette, bought it.
Under Breal and Calveton, its previous owners, the performance of the business was said to have stabilised.
They had acquired the chain from London-listed Hostmore, under the ownership of which a previous insolvency filing had taken place in 2024.
At that point, TGI Fridays traded from close to 90 UK restaurants.
The company declined to comment on the details of the potential pre-pack deal.
