For a generation of Brits, nothing said celebration quite like Pizza Hut. You knew you were in for a treat when your parents caved to the lure of bottomless Pepsi, industrial-strength cheese and the social status of a trip to the salad bar. Or maybe you remember the joys of a TGI Fridays where the towering burgers, sticky ribs and potato skins arrived with a side order of weaponised enthusiasm.
Chain restaurants, once the rock stars of British dining, now find themselves in retirement, their glory days behind them. Take Pizza Hut: its biggest UK franchisee is scrambling for cash, thanks to rising costs and a public with a newfound fondness for artisanal sourdough. Prezzo is shuttering branches faster than you can say “al forno” and TGI Fridays recently took an unwanted detour through administration.
