Unite Hospitality to file mass tribunal claims against TGI Fridays after hundreds lose jobs

A union has revealed that they intend to file mass tribunal claims against TGI Fridays after hundreds of its members was made redundant by the company last year.

The UK operator of TGI Fridays went into administration in September and the hospitality firm scrambled to sell its chain of 87 restaurants, including eight in Scotland.

It was announced Breal Capital and Calveton UK acquired 51 restaurants, but joint administrators at Teneo said 35 restaurants were not included in the sale and have been closed immediately, resulting in 1,012 redundancies.

Among the list of closures were two restaurants in Scotland – the outlet at Fort Kinnaird in Edinburgh and the venue in Dundee.

Following the redundancies, Unite Hospitality, the union representing staff, claimed that the workers won’t be getting any payout and called the layoffs “the most disgusting mass sacking since P&O”.

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

Our legal team has just informed ACAS that we intend on filing mass Tribunal claims against @TGIFridays on behalf of hundreds of members made redundant by the company.

Workers were sacked via conference call in October by a CEO who remains in post on £250k per…
— Unite Hospitality (@FairHospitality) January 7, 2025

The union have now said that they intend to file mass tribunal claims against the company on behalf of “hundreds” of its members who they claim were made redundant via a conference call.

They confirmed on X: “Our legal team has just informed ACAS that we intend on filing mass Tribunal claims against on behalf of hundreds of members made redundant by the company.

“Workers were sacked via conference call in October by a CEO who remains in post on £250k per year.

“We will not stop until bosses like Julie McEwan are held to account for their heartless and unlawful actions.

“Let this be a warning to any hospitality employer who thinks they can just sack their workforce without notice.”

TGI Fridays was first launched in New York in 1965, and continues to operate about 130 restaurants in the US.

The business grappled with weaker spending in the UK in recent years, and said it had been impacted by a post-Covid slowdown in demand across the casual dining sector.

Seven restaurants will remain open in Scotland, including Aberdeen’s Union Square, Glasgow Fort, Braehead, Silverburn, Glasgow’s Buchanan Street, Aberdeen Beach and Edinburgh’s Castle Street.

TGI Fridays has been contacted for comment.