GLOUCESTERSHIRE branches of a well-known restaurant chain have closed with immediate effect after the group’s operator collapsed into administration.

American restaurant brand TGI Fridays has seen 51 of its eateries acquired by new owners Breal Capital and Calveton UK.

However, joint administrators at Teneo said that 35 restaurants were not included in the sale and have been shut immediately, resulting in 1,012 redundancies.

The closed restaurants include the TGI Fridays branches in Gloucester Quays and Cheltenham.

Julie McEwan, chief executive of TGI Fridays UK, said: “The news today marks the start of a positive future for our business following a very challenging period for the casual dining sector as a whole.

“We are devastated for our colleagues who will be leaving TGIs and thank them for their loyalty and contribution during their time with us.

“We are doing everything possible to retain our team and support those impacted.”

New private equity owners Breal and Calveton jointly own upmarket restaurant chain D&D London and between them have had investments in Byron Burger and Vinoteca.

The companies said they were ‘delighted’ to be working with the management team to ‘both modernise the business and capitalise on the heritage of this iconic brand’.

One branch in the area which has been acquired by the new owners is the eatery at Cribbs Causeway.

TGI Fridays’ previous UK operator, Hostmore, appointed administrators last month and had been hoping to secure a buyer for the chain of 87 restaurants.

Hostmore said it was not expecting to ‘recover any meaningful value’ from the sale of sites, meaning it would earn less from the sale than what it owes to creditors and banks.

The value of the sale agreed with Breal and Calveton has not been disclosed.