TGI Fridays sale sees 35 restaurants in the UK 'closed with immediate effect'

TGIs restaurants in Birmingham's Hagley Road, Sutton Coldfield and Solihull's Touchwood shopping centre were not included in the sale

A deal to sell 51 TGI Fridays restaurants across the UK has seen 35 restaurants closed 'with immediate effect', resulting in more than 1,000 redundancies.

New owners Breal Capital and Calveton UK completed a deal to buy more than half of the chain's UK restaurants, thereby saving them from closure and saving more than 2,000 jobs.

Birmingham's NEC, Walsall and Coventry were listed among the 51 restaurants saved from closure. Birmingham's flagship Hagley Road flagship, the first TGIs to open in the UK in 1986, was missing from the list, alongside the Solihull Touchwood and Sutton Coldfield sites.

Read more: Full list of 51 TGI Fridays restaurants saved from closure as bosses are 'hopeful'

BirminghamLive contacted TGIs for confirmation on the status of the three local branches and was told: "Regrettably, 35 restaurants were not included within the sale, which have been closed with immediate effect, resulting in 1,012 redundancies."

Touchwood shopping centre has been approached for comment. Daniel Smith, senior managing director of Teneo, which handled TGIs' administration, 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. We thank all employees and other key stakeholders for their support at this difficult time.”

TGI Fridays' new owners, Breal Capital and Calveton UK, are known for being the name behind Byron Burgers, Vinoteca and D&D London which owns Birmingham's Orelle.