Edinburgh TGI Fridays at Fort Kinnaird closes with immediate effect along with 34 other restaurants

Hostmore, who has managed the UK franchise of the restaurant group since 2021 appointed administrators last month to secure a sale of its 87 UK restaurants.

A rescue deal overseen by joint administrators at Teneo has since completed the sale of 51 sites to Breal Capital and Calveton UK which will see the transfer of 2,389 employees. However, 35 restaurants were not included within the sale resulting in 1,012 redundancies.

TGI Fridays at Edinburgh's Fort Kinnaird has closed | Google Maps

The move comes after buyers undertook a detailed analysis of store performance across the UK. The senior managing director of Teneo said the transaction ‘preserves a significant proportion of jobs’ with TGI Fridays UK’s chief executive having said the move marks ‘the start of a positive future for our business following a very challenging period for the casual dining sector as a whole’.

The Fort Kinnaird branch is one of two Scottish restaurants to close. The TGI Fridays on Castle Street will remain open.

Julie McEwan, chief executive of TGI Fridays UK, said: “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.

“We would like to thank our team and our loyal guests for supporting us during this transition. We are proud to serve millions of customers across the UK and are committed to continuing to evolve our proposition and to give our guests a great value for money experience that keeps them coming back to enjoy TGI Fridays time and again.”

Daniel Smith, senior managing director of Teneo, said “The casual dining sector has been adversely impacted by well-publicised pressures on discretionary spend. This transaction with Breal Capital and Calveton UK preserves a significant proportion of jobs and will hopefully provide the business with the stability and support it needs to recover and grow.”

He added: “We thank all employees and other key stakeholders for their support at this difficult time.”