Foodies react as long-standing restaurant chain owner enters administration
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Foodies have been left divided over the news that Hostmore, the parent company of TGI Fridays UK, has gone into administration.
Hostmore, which runs the UK franchise for TGI Fridays, has appointed administrators and delisted its ordinary shares after struggling to find a “lasting solution” to save the business amid heavy losses and mounting debts, it said on Wednesday.
The company is in the process of trying to find a buyer for its chain of 87 UK outlets in the hope that TGI Fridays can stay alive on high streets and save the jobs of approximately 4,500 staff employed across the UK.
TGI Fridays restaurants remain open as normal while the administration process starts, but the future of the chain is uncertain as its parent company faces huge losses.
While some foodies mourned the prospect of never eating TGI Fridays’ sesame chicken dish again if the chain were to close, others have concluded that the company’s fate has been sealed for some time, due to rising menu prices and mediocre-quality food.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN TGI FRIDAYS IS IN ADMINISTRATION??? THEY BETTER NOT CLOSE ANY STORES. THE SESAME CHICKEN IS MY COMFORT MEAL,” said one fan, as another added. “If TGI Fridays closes down and I don’t get to eat the sesame chicken again I’m not sure I’ll recover.”
Others remarked that the chain’s Jack Daniels-infused sauce used on its chicken strips “will be missed”.
One person, who visited the chain’s first London branch that opened in Covent Garden in 1987, said they loved the restaurant at the time, but the business has struggled to stay adapt to appeal to modern tastes.
“Last went to one about a year ago – was the same old but at new extortionate prices. Other fast food outlets evolve where as TGI just stays the same.”
“Can’t say I’m surprised about TGI Fridays. First ate there at the Covent Garden one in the mid-90s and it was really good. However, stopped going several years ago as the food was bang average at a premium price. Feel for the staff but hardly shocked.”
Another person concluded the restaurant’s economic downturn had been a “long time coming” and its current offering is a “far cry from its 90s/2000s glory days.”
“Me and my wife love the food and have done for 15 years,” added another foodie. “Have always hated the customer services (or their lack of) and in the past 12 months it’s got more expensive. Last week we said it’s our last visit. Not surprised at all.”
Others have been more nostalgic about the news. One man reflected on going there for special occasions as a child, and vomiting in the car park on his 16th birthday because he ate “too much pudding”.
Another person added that the restaurant’s American appeal dazzled them when they were a child.
“Growing up, TGI Fridays was the EPITOME of sophistication to a girl from a small English town, whose single mother couldn’t drive,” she said online. “You mean we get to go to the city?! And eat at a restaurant?! And it looks like AMERICA? RIP my naff childhood conceptualisations of the world.”
Hostmore said earlier this month that it was not expecting to “recover any meaningful value” from the sale of sites, meaning it would earn less from the sale than it owes to creditors and banks.
It is not clear whether Hostmore will secure a buyer for the entire chain, or whether it will manage to sell some but not all of the restaurants.
The collapse of the London-listed hospitality brand comes after plans to buy the US restaurant chain for £177 million fell through earlier this month.
It would have merged with US-based TGI Fridays Inc, to create a larger firm that would remain listed in London.
But the takeover plans were dropped after a management change which would have meant it could not collect royalties from the TGI Fridays brand.
TGI Fridays was originally founded in New York in 1965 with its widely-known slogan, “In here, it’s always Friday”.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, told PA news agency: “TGI Fridays bounded onto the UK restaurant scene in the mid-eighties with its Americana-inspired decor and menus satiating the appetite for US cuisine dining.
“Even though the chain had focused on reducing costs and significantly reduced losses from unprofitable stores, it wasn’t enough to keep the business afloat.”
With additional reporting from PA.
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