Key events
TGI Fridays closes 16 restaurants in administration deal
Sarah Butler
TGI Fridays has closed 16 UK restaurants with the loss of 456 jobs but the casual dining chain will survive with 33 outlets under a company controlled by the brand’s US owner.
Sugarloaf Holdings, a group led by Ray Blanchette a former boss of TGI Fridays who and returned as part of a rescue of the US owner of the global brand in 2025, has bought back the UK business in a pre-pack administration deal. Sugarloaf first acquired the UK business from its private equity owners in October.
The latest insolvency process for the UK arm comes less than 18 months after the UK business was rescued out of administration by two private equity firms, Calveton UK and Breal Capital, which own upmarket restaurants including Le Pont de la Tour, Quaglino’s and Coq d’Argent. That deal involved the closure of about 35 restaurants.
Ryan Grant and Will Wright, the joint administrators to the UK restaurant chain said the latest rescue deal announced on Tuesday would safeguard 1,384 jobs.
Grant said:
While these have been difficult times for hospitality operators generally, this marks a pivotal step in TGI Friday’s wider turnaround plan, putting in place stable foundations upon which it can begin to move forward.”
Phil Broad, the global president of TGI Fridays, said:
We have been working closely to explore all available options for securing the long-term future of TGI Fridays in the UK, and believe that this is the best outcome for the business, preserves jobs, and offers a strong platform for success and growth.
TGI Fridays has a long history in the UK, and I believe that the future of the brand is in strong hands – focused on reinvigorating the brand while continuing to deliver the bold flavours, welcoming atmosphere, and high-energy dining experience that define TGI Fridays.”
TGI Fridays was founded by the restaurateur Alan Stillman in New York in 1965 as the world’s first casual cocktail bar and restaurant, and now has 360 restaurants in 40 countries, many of which are run by franchisees.
The Dallas-based bar and grill chain has been struggling both at home and abroad with about half its company-owned US locations closing during insolvency proceedings there in 2024.
Blanchette, who ran TGI Fridays parent company in the US for five years until 2023, returned in January 2025 to lead a rescue deal.
TGI’s difficulties in the UK come amid heavy pressure on the hospitality industry from rising costs of labour, energy and tax as well as lacklustre consumer spending. Households have been reining in spending on nights out amid high inflation on essential bills.
Biggest expansion in wind farms ‘breakthrough moment’ for clean power by 2030
The industry is hailing the bumper offshore wind auction as a breakthrough moment for the UK’s ambition for clean power by 2030.
Dr Douglas Parr, policy director for Greenpeace UK, said:
The North Sea may be running out of gas, but it won’t be running out of wind any time soon. It is the best fuel to reduce the high energy prices gas companies have inflicted on UK homes. With new wind being cheaper than new gas, new nuclear or new biomass plants and lowering prices in electricity and gas markets, this auction keeps the clean ower 2030 target, the government’s most ambitious climate commitment, on track.
“These new wind farms will lower our bills when they come online, and shield us against the volatile fossil fuel prices driven by the actions of unreliable petrostates.
He added the government should act further by increasing investment in ports and crucial infrastructure that wind developers rely on, as well as reducing the cost of borrowing through loan guarantees.
James Alexander, chief executive of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association, said:
The results of the government’s offshore and floating offshore wind auction represent a significant step forward in delivering the UK’s evolution to clean energy.
This has the capacity to attract billions of pounds of private capital into our low-carbon industries, supporting long-term growth and jobs across the UK economy. It is also a vote of confidence in the Contracts for Difference model as a crucial driver of investment in our energy system.
Sustained progress will depend on future allocation rounds delivering the scale and consistency needed to accelerate the rollout of renewable infrastructure. The government’s support for credible clean energy policies remains crucial for ensuring the UK’s attractiveness as an investable market.”
Jess Ralston, an energy analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), says this will be a breakthrough moment in the UK’s energy independence, and for stabilising energy bills.
Wind lowered the wholesale power price by around a third last year by squeezing out gas generation, which has a direct benefit on electricity bills. At today’s auction price, it is predicted to pay back a little via levies on bills too.
Every wind turbine we build means we need less gas from abroad as the North Sea continues its inevitable decline, so we’ll be less reliant on the actions of foreign actors like Putin. Once we’ve built British renewables, we don’t need to pay another country for the wind and sun. With jobs being lost from oil and gas in the North Sea for many years, the speedy ramp up of offshore wind is needed to provide new opportunities for workers and communities across the UK.
Analysis by the ECIU has found the average price of electricity traded on day-ahead markets last year was around £83 per megawatt-hour (MWh), but could have been as high as £121 per MWh, without British windfarms limiting the role of gas power plants in setting prices.
Introduction: Trump says JP Morgan boss ‘wrong’ over Fed defence
Good morning and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
President Donald Trump has hit out at Jamie Dimon, the billionaire boss of JPMorgan, saying he was “wrong” to suggest he was undermining the independence of the US central bank.
He said:
I think it’s fine what I’m doing. And we have a bad Fed person”.
It comes after Dimon, who leads the biggest bank in the US, expressed concern about the investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday. The Justice Department has opened a probe into the cost of the renovation of the central bank’s headquarters and Powell’s testimony about the project.
Dimon told reporters on Tuesday he had “enormous respect” for the Fed chair.
He said during an earnings call:
Everyone we know believes in Fed independence. And anything [that] chips away at that is probably not a great idea, and in my view, will have the reverse consequences. It’ll raise inflation expectations and probably increase [interest] rates over time.”
Central banks around the world have also rallied to defend the Fed and its chair.
When asked about Dimon’s remarks, Trump said:
I think he’s wrong.”
Trump also said yesterday he would continue with plans to announce a replacement for Powell, who he appointed in 2018, within “the next few weeks”.
Elsewhere this morning, energy secretary Ed Miliband has hailed a record auction for offshore windfarm contracts in Great Britain.
12 new offshore projects were awarded contracts after ministers increased the amount of funding available to developers to help them deliver their plans without raising bills for consumers.
The funding was awarded to 8.4 gigawatts (GW) of offshore windfarm capacity, or enough to generate clean electricity for more than 12m British homes before the end of the decade. They were awarded a contract price of between £89.49 and £91.20 a megawatt-hour (MWh) in 2024 prices.
Miliband said:
We’ve secured a record-breaking 8.4GW of offshore wind, enough to power the equivalent of over 12m homes. This is the largest amount of offshore wind procured in any auction ever in Britain or indeed Europe.
With these results, we are taking back control of our energy sovereignty. It’s a historic win for those who want Britain to stand on our own two feet, controlling our own energy rather than depending on markets controlled by petrostates and dictators.
It is a significant step towards clean power by 2030. The price secured in this auction is 40% lower than the alternative cost of building and operating a new gas plant. Clean, homegrown power is the right choice to bring down bills for good, and this auction will create thousands of jobs throughout Britain.”
The agenda
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8:00am GMT: Bank of England’s Alan Taylors speech at the National University of Singapore
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9:00am GMT: Launch of the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2026
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11:00am GMT: Wells Fargo full year results
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11:45am GMT: Bank of America full year results
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1:00pm GMT: Citigroup full year results
