A POPULAR restaurant franchise has announced the closure of many sites in and around Essex.

International American restaurant chain, TGI Fridays was first launched in New York in 1965 and has announced the closure of more than 50 of its UK restaurants.

The announcement comes as part of a rescue deal for the franchise, with new owners acquiring restaurant sites in Essex, Sussex, Hertfordshire and London.

Despite many sites closing, 35 UK restaurants were not included in the sale and have been shut immediately, resulting in more than 1,000 redundancies.

TGI Friday restaurants will close in Chelmsford and Romford.

Restaurants in Braintree, Basildon, Lakeside Quay, and Lakeside retail park will remain open. 

New owners Breal Capital and Calveton UK said they were looking forward to modernising the business.

The TGI Fridays UK restaurants shutting are:

  • Barnsley, South Yorkshire
  • Birmingham, West Midlands
  • Bracknell, Berkshire
  • Brighton Marina, East Sussex
  • Bristol Cabot Circus, Bristol
  • Cardiff, Newport Road, Wales
  • Chelmsford, Essex
  • Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
  • Croydon, south London
  • Derby, Derbyshire
  • Dundee, Scotland
  • Durham, County Durham
  • Edinburgh Fort Kinnaird, Scotland
  • Enfield, north London
  • Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
  • Gloucester Quays, Gloucestershire
  • Halifax, West Yorkshire
  • Jersey, Channel Islands
  • Leeds, West Yorkshire
  • Leeds Trinity, West Yorkshire
  • Leicester, Leicestershire
  • Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Manchester Royal Exchange, Manchester
  • Newcastle Eldon Square, Newcastle upon Tyne
  • Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales
  • Northampton, Northamptonshire
  • Prestwich Valley Park Road, Greater Manchester
  • Romford, Essex
  • Sale, Greater Manchester
  • Solihull, West Midlands
  • Southampton West Quay South, Hampshire
  • Speke, Liverpool
  • Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands
  • Swansea, South Wales
  • Watford North, Hertfordshire

The TGI Fridays UK restaurants remaining open are:

  • Bluewater shopping centre, Kent
  • Trafford Centre, Greater Manchester
  • Meadowhall, South Yorkshire
  • Aberdeen Union Square, Scotland
  • Metrocentre Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
  • Basildon, Essex
  • Glasgow Fort, Scotland
  • Milton Keynes Stadium, Buckinghamshire
  • Braehead, Renfrewshire, Scotland
  • Wembley, London
  • Birmingham NEC, West Midlands
  • Glasgow, Scotland
  • Leeds Junction 27, West Yorkshire
  • Castleford, West Yorkshire
  • Lakeside Quay, Essex
  • Teesside, North East
  • Bolton, Lancashire
  • Norwich, Norfolk
  • Cardiff St Davids, Wales
  • Doncaster, South Yorkshire
  • Lakeside Retail Park, Essex
  • Fareham, Hampshire
  • Liverpool One, Merseyside
  • Stevenage, Hertfordshire
  • Leeds White Rose, West Yorkshire
  • Cribbs Causeway, south Gloucestershire
  • Rushden Lakes, Northamptonshire
  • Stoke on Trent, West Midlands
  • Southampton, Hampshire
  • Silverburn, Scotland
  • Watford Central, Hertfordshire
  • Aberdeen Beach, Scotland
  • Braintree, Essex
  • Bournemouth, Dorset
  • Stratford, London
  • High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
  • Cheshire Oaks, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire
  • Walsall, West Midlands
  • Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
  • Sheffield, South Yorkshire
  • Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
  • Edinburgh, Scotland
  • Coventry, West Midlands
  • Ashton-Under-Lyne, Greater Manchester
  • Telford, Shropshire
  • The O2, south London
  • Staines, Surrey
  • Crawley, West Sussex
  • Reading, Berkshire
  • Cheadle, Greater Manchester
  • Leicester Square, central London