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Exclusive – TGI Fridays hires Giles Fry to oversee UK business: Sugarloaf TGIF Management, the global manager of the TGI Fridays brand, has hired Giles Fry, the founder neighbourhood-style bar and kitchen concept Snug Bars, to lead the UK arm of the business, which it acquired last month, Propel has learned. Fry, who sold his Snug Bars business to South London bar operator Tequila Mockingbird earlier this summer, has been appointed chief operating officer of the 51-strong TGI Fridays UK. Fry, who was previously a general manager at TGI, is joined in the company’s new management team by Jonathan Grenville Grey (JGG) as operations director of Sugarloaf and the UK. Grenville Grey was previously operations director at Snug Bars. Their appointments come as Propel understands that Julie McEwan, who has led TGI Fridays UK for the past three years, has stepped down as chief executive. At the end of last month, private equity firms Calveton UK and Breal Capital sold the TGI Fridays UK franchise business to Sugarloaf TGIF Management. Breal and Calveton, which also own Evolv Collection – formerly D&D London – and London Brasseries, acquired the bulk of TGI Fridays UK out of administration in October last year. The deal, through a new vehicle called the Liberty Bar and Restaurant Group, saw 51 out of the 87 TGI Fridays across the country acquired, while 35 sites were closed. Propel later revealed that Breal and Calveton paid a total consideration of £9.55m for the business, securing more than 2,000 jobs. Sugarloaf, owned by former TGI Fridays chief executive Ray Blanchette, was subsequently chosen to manage all of TGI Friday’s franchised restaurants worldwide in January 2025, after the company had filed for bankruptcy protection in the US. Phil Broad, president of TGI Fridays International, said: “A big welcome to Giles Fry as our chief operating officer of Sugarloaf and the UK, delighted to have you on board Giles. I’m also delighted to welcome Jonathan Grenville Grey as our operations director of Sugarloaf and the UK. I couldn’t be happier to have these two highly experienced operators who I worked with back in 1997 join our team as we take the UK to new heights. We have a lot to do but the challenge is now shared. I’ve known the famous duo for 26 years so the experience will certainly help. Please join me in welcoming them to the team. As they say onwards. The future is now in our hands.” Fry said: “I’m excited and proud to lead one of the most iconic cocktail bar and restaurant brands. It’s a really tough time out there, as anyone in Hospitality will bear witness too, but I’m rolling my sleeves up and working with over 1,800 talented and passionate individuals, who are ready to work hard and put us back to where we belong. It’s going to be a tough journey, but we’ll celebrate our milestones along the way, starting with ensuring our guests have an awesome time this Christmas. The icing on the cake is that I get to work with my wingman of 26 years, JGG. My thanks to Ray Blanchette and Phil Broad for the amazing opportunity.”

Premium Club subscribers to receive next Who’s Who of UK Hospitality and videos from this month’s Propel Multi-Club Conference on Friday: The next Who’s Who of UK Hospitality will be released to Premium Club subscribers on Friday (21 November), at midday. Another 83 companies have been added to the database, which now features 1,287 companies. This month’s edition will also include 179 updated entries. The companies, listed in alphabetical order, will have their most recent developments reported as well as broader information around Ebitda, plans and trading style available. The database merges Companies House information, interviews and other public information to provide an easy to reference and exhaustive guide to the sector. Premium Club subscribers will also receive all the videos from this month’s Propel Multi-Club Conference on Friday, at 9am. They include Aaron Mellor, founder and chief executive of Tokyo Industries, the UK’s largest private operator of bar and nightclubs, alongside multiple international operations in Los Angeles, Palm Springs, New York, Palma, and Ibiza. He talks about the late-night market, developing a new West End theatre, operating mid-century hotels in California, trading in Palma and Ibiza, operating multiple festivals, building skyscrapers in Manchester and buying a shopping centre in Hull. Premium Club subscribers also receive access to five other databases: the Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the Multi-Site Database, the New Openings Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database and the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database. All Premium Club subscribers will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events and discounts on specialist sector reports. Operators that are Premium Club subscribers are also able to send up to four members of staff to each of our four Multi-Club Conferences for free. Premium Club subscribers receive their daily Propel Info newsletter 11 hours earlier than standard subscribers, at 7pm the evening before. They also receive videos of presentations at eight Propel conference events two weeks after they are held. This represents around 100 videos of industry insight over the course of the year. Premium Club subscribers also receive exclusive opinion columns every Friday at 5pm, which include the thoughts of Propel group editor Mark Wingett and a host of industry leaders from across the sector. A Premium Club subscription costs an annual sum of £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Premium Club for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.

The Coconut Tree business acquired out of administration for circa £305,000: MPS Hospitality, a new company formed earlier this spring by The Coconut Tree co-founders Shamil Fernando and Praveen Thangiah, agreed to acquire the seven-strong Sri Lankan, street-food brand out of administration, for a total consideration of circa £305,000, Propel has learned. Propel reported last week, that the business, which was founded in 2016 by five Sri Lankan friends living in Cheltenham – Mithra Fernando, Rashinthe Rodrigo, Dhanushka Fernando, Praveen Thangiah and Shamil Fernando, had been placed into administration with Forvis Mazars appointed administrators. Earlier this summer, the business was set to be wound up after defaulting on its company voluntary arrangement over an unpaid £1.6m tax bill. The Coconut Tree trades from sites in Cheltenham, Bournemouth, Bath, Reading, Oxford and two in Bristol. In June, a notice from joint supervisors Mark Boughey and Michal Field, of Forvis Mazars, showed that The Coconut Tree owed HM Revenue & Customs 1,360,837 in VAT and £239,799 in PAYE and national insurance contributions. MPS Hospitality paid a non-refundable deposit of £30,500 – 10% of the total purchase price for the business, assets and freehold of the Cheltenham site, which was valued at £250,000. It also agreed to take on £293,473 of salary arrears, £93,591 of outstanding holiday pay, and £7,500 for license fee in relation to the freehold site. The deal was funded by £250,000 from Shamil Fernando, £250,000 bridging loan from Grey Max Capital for the freehold, and £125,000 from franchise sales proceeds.

Topgolf sold to LA private equity firm in $1.1bn deal: Golf-equipment maker Topgolf Callaway Brands is to sell a majority stake in its Topgolf chain to private equity firm Leonard Green valuing the business at $1.1bn. Topgolf’s valuation is nearly half of Callaway and its merger value in 2021. Callaway will receive $770m in net proceeds from the sale of its 60% stake in the golf venues business. Topgolf Callaway said in September last year it was considering a split of its eponymous units to maximise shareholder value, after the company’s stock had plunged over 73% from its post-merger highs leading up to the announcement. “After the closing of this transaction, the ongoing business will be well-capitalised, enabling us to continue to reinvest in our businesses, pay down debt and deliver a meaningful return of capital to shareholders via stock repurchases or other means,” Topgolf Callaway Brands chief executive Chip Brewer said. Topgolf was founded in England in 2000 by Steve and Dave Joliffe. The business currently operates circa 80 sites across the US, UK, Australia, Germany, Mexico, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.

The London Beer Factory takes on a third pub: South London craft beer brewer London Beer Factory is expanding its footprint with the acquisition of its third pub, The Hole in the Wall in Waterloo – an “iconic hotspot famed for its craft beers and real ales”. The company said this latest addition signals The London Beer Factory’s ambition to “blend classic pub culture with top-notch craft beer experiences, bringing a fresh energy to one of Waterloo’s most beloved watering holes”. Founders Ed and Sim Cotton said: “We’re thrilled to be taking on such a legendary London boozer. Our plan is to give it a more modern, premium feel, introduce a kitchen serving some of the best burgers in town, and of course, keep the incredible beer selection the pub is famous for. London Beer Factory beers will sit proudly alongside a wide variety from other breweries, keeping the tradition alive while adding our own twist.” The business also operates the Barrel Project at 80 Druid Street in Bermondsey, and The Ten Bells in Spitalfields.

Bar where lone drinkers are banned: A bar in Greater Manchester has banned solo drinkers from entering. The Times reports that the Alibi in Altrincham has a sign outside the front door stating the venue does not allow people to enter on their own. “No single entry,” it reads. “After 9pm, Alibi does not permit single entry. If you are with guests already inside the venue, please contact them in advance of entry. This is for the safety of all guests.” In a post on social media, Carl Peters, who owns the cocktail and karaoke bar, called out a man who had described the policy as discriminatory. Explaining its rationale, he said: “If something happens to that person in a late-night, busy bar environment where people are drinking it’s an absolute nightmare for us to deal with.” Another scenario is that solo drinkers “start mithering other groups – because they’re not just going to sit there in a bar having a drink on their own in silence”, he said. Peters claimed “that’s when things start to happen”, and by banning solo drinkers such risks were eliminated. Peters told The Times that Alibi has operated with this door policy since opening three years ago following the success of a similar one at Translate, a bar he ran for five years in Shoreditch, east London. He said he would “die on the hill” of prioritising safety and inclusion, and the policy was about running a venue responsibly. “We pride ourselves on being friendly, not rough,” he added. Peters explained that, if someone came into a bar on their own, they were “immediately in a vulnerable situation”. He said: “If anything happens to someone, we’re clear, we want to know who they’re with. They fall over and bang their head. They get locked in the toilet. What have they had to drink? Because situations arise where the friend group gives you all the information that you need. Someone has a seizure in the bar. Someone has an allergy to something. If there’s no one with them, we don’t have that information.” Solo drinkers are welcome to come in during the day for a drink and a chat, but after 9pm Peters said Alibi was a “busy, late-night, high-tempo bar”, not a pub. The bar is open until 2am on weekends.