Jamie Oliver ‘devastated’ as administrators called in at restaurants
All but three of Oliver’s restaurants have been closed, making 1,000 staff redundant, administrators confirmed.
Jamie Oliver has said he is “devastated” after his restaurant chains collapsed into administration, making around 1,000 staff members redundant.
Administrators KPMG have closed 22 of the celebrity chef’s 25 restaurants, after investment could not be secured to keep them trading.
In an official statement, the chef added: “We launched Jamie’s Italian in 2008 with the intention of positively disrupting mid-market dining in the UK high street, with great value and much higher quality ingredients, best-in-class animal welfare standards and an amazing team who shared my passion for great food and service. And we did exactly that.”
Mr Oliver offered £4 million to support a last-minute search for funds, but with “no investment forthcoming” and in light of difficult trading conditions, the firm appointed the administrators.
Around 1,300 people are estimated to work for the UK business in total.
Closure notices were displayed in the windows of branches across the country on Tuesday.
“Our priority in the coming hours and days is to work with those employees who have been made redundant, providing any support and assistance they need.”
All restaurant salaries will be paid up to the date of the administrator’s appointment, KPMG added.
The process does not affect Mr Oliver’s other companies, which handle his media and licensing deals, while the international branch of Jamie’s Italian is also unaffected.
It follows a hunt for a new investor in the Jamie’s Italian brand, with a number of private equity firms touted as mulling bids for a stake in the business.
Mr Oliver’s restaurant empire has taken a few knocks over the past two years.
In 2018 Jamie’s Italian shuttered 12 of its 37 sites through a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA).
The TV personality’s steak house, Barbecoa, also went into a pre-pack administration, leading to the closure of its Piccadilly branch.
Overseas, five branches of the Australian arm of Jamie’s Italian was sold off last year, while another was put into administration.
Despite the troubles, which forced Mr Oliver to pump £13 million of his own money into his Italian chain, he told Press Association earlier this year that casual dining was primed for a comeback.
