TGI Friday's to open first restaurant in Shropshire

The American-style restaurant will open as part of the Southern Quarter development at Telford Shopping Centre, along with Italian restaurant Prezzo and Handmade Burger Company.

The announcement comes ahead of construction starting on the Southern Quarter in the next few weeks – although the restaurants are not set to open until Christmas 2016. The new restaurants will sit next to the £250 million Southwater development which opened in June last year.

Alexandra Pugh, of Sovereign Centros, which is managing the redevelopment of the shopping centre, said: "These three lettings total nearly 14,000 sq ft so the Southern Quarter is now almost 60 per cent pre-let.

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"We also have strong interest in the two remaining restaurant units within the scheme, so it's all systems go. Work is due to start on the site over the next few weeks and we expect the first restaurants to open in time for the build-up to Christmas 2016."

The 26,500 sq ft Southern Quarter is to be built on the site of the former Focus DIY store, which was demolished in 2014.

The Southern Quarter is the first phase of the £200-million development plan that will have enough space for the restaurants and cafés to have outside seating, and will create a public route between the new Asda supermarket, Southwater and the entrance to Telford Shopping Centre.

Councillor Shaun Davies, cabinet member for business at Telford & Wrekin Council, said: "The investment made into Telford Town Centre is helping to boost the borough's night-time economy and improve its tourism offer. "This announcement helps to reinforce that there is significant business confidence in Telford. We welcome this investment and continue to work with Telford Shopping Centre to make Telford a great destination to live, work, visit and invest in."