Ray Blanchette at TGI Fridays in Leeds. \u2018I know this brand is important in the UK,\u2019 he says.<\/span> Photograph: Gary Calton\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cMy company has no private equity investment \u2013 it\u2019s a family business, my business, and I bought [TGI] intending [for us] to own it for the next 100 years,\u201d he says, adding that he will be making decisions with a \u201clong-term view\u201d and not just to seek short-term profit.<\/p>\n
Starting out in the kitchens of a TGI restaurant in Philadelphia in 1989, Blanchette rose to become president of the firm before he left in 2014 for stints at chains including Au Bon Pain and Ruby Tuesday.<\/p>\n
But TGI drew him back in: he returned to run it for five years until 2023, and then, two years later, secured the master franchise for the US business and 11 restaurants after it fell into Chapter 11, the insolvency process.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know this brand is important in the UK,\u201d he says, speaking at TGI\u2019s Birmingham restaurant.<\/p>\n
On taking on the British business, Blanchette found parts of it had been left underfunded. At 14 sites, almost half the current chain, there was no heating, and other outlets had refrigerators that did not work.<\/p>\n
Blanchette says he is now investing more than \u00a32.5m on top of regular maintenance bills in revamping restaurants and kitchen kit, including updating memorabilia, and in developing coaches to train up staff.<\/p>\n
He says that in the 1990s TGI in the UK was \u201ca brand with a good reputation, and that was well earned\u201d, with buzzy bar-restaurants where cocktail waiters could mix up drinks with panache.<\/p>\n
However, he claims that under its more recent owners the menu had become too expensive, there had been too little investment in the restaurants and staff training had gone, so that \u201cit all started to get watered down\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw restaurants in a horrible condition,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s now sorted.\u201d<\/p>\n
After claiming to have read every one of the hundreds of thousands of Google and Yelp reviews on TGI\u2019s UK business, Blanchette believes a turnaround is possible. \u201cWe are getting back to what people expect from us. It is intended to be a little over the top and fun,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Chefs have been retrained to cook the new menu from scratch, and a two-courses plus drink value menu at \u00a312.49 has been introduced as well as more affordable appetisers and sharing plates that can be nibbled alongside drinks.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome appetisers, some margaritas and Long Island iced teas, I don\u2019t know how that goes out of style,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
However, Blanchette adds his voice to the many UK bosses criticising the government over costs, describing the current tax regime for high street businesses as \u201cproblematic\u201d and arguing that it stifles growth.<\/p>\n
He is hopeful of change as hospitality is one of the UK\u2019s biggest employers. \u201cEventually government has got to realise that or it is going to be in a real lot of hurt. You will have people come to London to see the sites and not have anywhere to eat.\u201d<\/p>\n
TGI is unlikely to open more UK restaurants in the coming year \u2013 unless a site comes up in London, where it once had bustling sites in Covent Garden and on Piccadilly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI certainly want to expand but there are things to do first,\u201d Blanchette says. \u201cWe are looking through the windshield, not the rear-view mirror. This is not about going back to the 90s.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says even when families are stretched financially they still want to eat out and a treat. \u201cIf you are warmly greeted in a restaurant, you relax and say \u2018let\u2019s have some fun\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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