T.G.I. Friday’s has announced that its latest opening will be the company’s first at a key UK transport hub, with a new-concept, Friday’s ‘Fast Track’ set to open in Manchester’s Piccadilly Station in June.
Tailored to the busy traveller
The restaurant will serve the fresh and flavourful food for which Friday’s is famous within a restaurant environment tailored to the needs of the busy traveller. Power points, Wi-Fi, and individual seating will all be available in the Friday’s Fast Track.
Doubling the number of Friday’s to 120
The move into fast-paced high-footfall transport hubs is part of CEO Karen Forrester’s vision to double the number of Friday’s in the UK to 120 by 2020, with around eight openings per year planned. Manchester Piccadilly provides the perfect location for Friday’s with a footfall of 24 million passengers per year, an average user age below 40, and an average passenger dwell time of nearly half an hour.
Quality food on the go
Insight from Horizon’s ‘Ones to Watch’ report has shown that ‘quality food on the go’ is a key growth area in the UK eating out market, with new concepts emerging in places such as transport hubs, as consumers increasingly want to eat when they want, where they want. The combination of a proven consumer trend and a brand increasingly popular with UK diners is set to be a winning formula for Friday’s.
Manchester Piccadilly
Located within the Upper Concourse of the station, an open-plan kitchen will offer guests walking past the restaurant a glimpse of Friday’s food as it is cooked, including the new handcrafted burger range and classic American-inspired breakfasts with a Friday’s twist – including waffles, maple bacon and Jack Daniel’s-candied sausages.
The food has been specially designed by Friday’s award-winning development chef Terry McDowell to ensure that all main meals can be delivered to guests within ten minutes of order through clever innovations.
The restaurant will create 40 jobs locally and will be able to serve 135 diners at any one time. It will include a rustic colour scheme and memorabilia inspired by travel, with a particular nod to the most famous train station in the world – Grand Central Station.
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