New openings: Six for TGI, more space for Red Hot

TGI Friday’s will open in Manchester, Wembley and Halifax by the end of the summer, with three more openings in unconfirmed locations due before 2012 is out. TGI’s operations director Tim Cullum said: “2012 is set to be our biggest year in the UK since we opened 26 years ago. It is also the most ambitious for us in terms of new restaurant launches and our Manchester Royal Exchange opening brings in a new era.” The chain is now recruiting staff, especially managers, via its personnel website.

* TGI has just won the International Restaurateur of the Year award at the Retail and Leisure International awards. The prize rewards global quality and diversity among brands operating in more than one country.

Red Hot World Buffet is to make its giant Manchester branch even bigger by moving into an upper floor of its Deansgate site. The chain says the opening of the 10,000 square feet floor will take add another 150 covers to take its total to 525, and help to push its diners-per-week total by 2,000 to 12,000. The floor will be used for corporate and group events as well as an overspill for walk-in trade.

Director Helen Dhaliwal said: “The Manchester restaurant has been our most popular venue by far since we launched it last year. We always expected to hit our targets but we have seen a huge surge in demand in the last 12 months from both corporate and casual diners. This is why we have expanded to provide flexible corporate dining facilities and relief during peak times.”

Fellow all-you-can-eat buffet concept Jimmy’s World Grill and Bar says it will grow to 20 sites by the end of 2014. It currently runs seven restaurants with three more due before the end of the year. It has just opened a new flagship site at the O2, and has finished work on a new head office, training, warehouse and central distribution centre in Solihull.


Coffee chain Love Coffee is to open its first London site at Stratford International station. Love Coffee took over 13 BB’s Coffee & Muffins outlets in 2009, and currently has 18 branches. It will become the first coffee outlet at the Stratford station when it opens in July. It will be a key service point for this summer’s Olympic Games in London.

Zizzi is to open at the Advocates Close development near Edinburgh Castle. The chain will take a 4,000 square feet unit at the site, and is the first to sign up to the £45m development.


J D Wetherspoon is to open a surf-themed Lloyds Number One bar in Newquay, the unofficial capital of UK surfing. It will be called The Cribbar after a reef off Newquay.
 
Rex Restaurant Associates has opened its long awaited new basserie, bar and cabaret venue on Sherwood Street—Brasserie Zédel.