Nando's Prestwich Restaurant Plans Move Into Former TGI Fridays

On Valley Park Road in Prestwich, behind a chain link fence and a cluster of overgrown shrubs, sits a building that has spent years slipping quietly into disrepair. Boarded windows and a peeling facade mark what was once a busy TGI Fridays, now abandoned beside a Premier Inn just off Junction 17 of the M60. Soon, that same building could carry a very different name, as Nando's Prestwich Restaurant plans move forward to bring new life back to the site.

Nando's has submitted plans for a new restaurant in Prestwich, aiming to move into part of the former TGI Fridays venue. Full details on the chain are available through Nando's official website, though the Prestwich site itself has become the immediate focus locally, given how long the building has stood empty and visibly deteriorating.

A Building Long Overdue for Change

The site has stood empty for a number of years, with visible signs of neglect accumulating across the structure. For a building positioned so prominently, next to a busy motorway junction and a functioning hotel, its extended vacancy has been a noticeable gap in an otherwise active stretch of Prestwich. Nando's has framed its proposals as a chance to reverse that, stating the plans would dramatically refresh and revitalise the appearance of the building through the creation of a high quality, vibrant restaurant.

A spokeswoman for the company said Nando's hopes the new restaurant will open early next year, giving the project a relatively tight timeline once approval is secured. "We're excited to be opening a new restaurant in Prestwich early next year. We'll be able to share more info in the coming months," the spokeswoman said. The comment reflects a company keen to move quickly, even as further specifics about the restaurant's design and offering remain to be announced.

What the Plans Include

The proposals, submitted to Bury Council for approval, include outdoor seating, with six tables and twelve chairs planned for the site, giving the new restaurant a visible presence beyond its interior dining room. The plans also call for an access hatch built into the restaurant's facade, intended specifically for deliveries to be collected by Deliveroo drivers.

According to planning documents, the hatch will only be in use during the restaurant's opening hours and will remain shut between collections to minimise noise spillage into the surrounding area. The approach is designed to create a more organised and efficient collection process, reducing congestion at the building's main entrance, while customers collecting their own orders will continue to do so from inside the restaurant rather than through the hatch.

A Second Tenant May Follow

Nando's will not be the only new occupant at the site. Construction company ABGi has recently carried out work to divide the former TGI Fridays building in two, and according to the business, the tenant expected to take the other half of the premises is Starbucks. When approached by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Starbucks said it did not have any updates to share about the potential move, leaving that half of the redevelopment still unconfirmed.

What This Means for Prestwich

Should both tenancies proceed as expected, the redevelopment would transform a long neglected building into a shared home for two well known food and beverage brands, positioned directly alongside a busy motorway junction and existing hotel trade. That kind of pairing reflects a broader pattern across UK retail and hospitality, where restaurant and coffee chains increasingly look to reactivate underused sites near transport links rather than build entirely new locations, a strategy echoed elsewhere in how established brands are finding new distribution points to reach customers, including nontraditional formats like the recent Wienerschnitzel expansion into West Virginia convenience stores.

For now, the boarded windows and fencing remain, a visible pause before what residents may soon see as two familiar names moving in side by side. If the plans proceed as outlined, the building's years of quiet disrepair could give way, within a matter of months, to the steady hum of a restaurant once again open for business on Valley Park Road.