Beefeater, TGI Friday’s and Frankie and Benny’s at Broad Street Plaza to close due to coronavirus

A statement posted in the restaurant window, which has also been published on the company’s website, said: “Following Monday’s new Government guidance on coronavirus (Covid-19) and the consequent impact on the hospitality industry as a whole, we’ve taken the decision to temporarily close our restaurant from Saturday, March 21.

“This is not a decision we’ve taken lightly but we’re confident it is the right one in the long term for our team members and guests.

“We’re sorry to those of you who had bookings with us and to those who we were looking forward to welcoming in the coming weeks.

“We will re-open when the time is right, and this information will be available via our social channels and beefeater.co.uk.

“We wish good health for you and your families during these uncertain times.”

TGI Friday’s said in a statement: “As the safety and welfare of our guests and teams is our number one priority and following the recent UK government advice to practice social distancing, we have now made the decision to temporarily close all our restaurants from 9pm on 20/03/20. This decisive action is to protect our guests, our teams, our communities and our business.

“Thanks to you for your continued loyal custom, we are a strong, healthy and growing business and look forward to opening our doors and welcoming you back to Fridays in the near future.

“Our teams will be tirelessly working to close our restaurants down in a safe manner whilst complying with our internal COVID-19 contingency plan which includes increased control measures across the board. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our teams for their continued professional and hardworking approach. They have come together in extremely difficult circumstances in a way that makes us all tremendously proud to be a part of the Fridays family.

“We will ensure that any stock we can safely distribute will be donated to support our local communities or shared amongst the team, and we will continue to look for ways in which we can help those in need.

“We’ve been working hard on some exciting new developments for you, including new food and drinks menus and the return of some classic cocktails. Unfortunately, the launch will now have to be delayed, but we can’t wait to invite you to try it when we open our doors again. Myself and the entire team are going to bring Fridays back stronger than ever before.

“Watch this space and take good care of yourselves.”