Jamie Oliver’s restaurant chains collapse leaving 1,300 jobs at risk

Jamie Oliver is ‘deeply saddened’ following his restaurant group entering administration on Tuesday, putting 1,300 jobs at risk.

The TV celebrity chef’s restaurant group plunged into administration, including the restaurants Jamie’s Italian chain, Barbecoa and Fifteen, putting 1,300 jobs at risk.

KMPG is set to handle the insolvency of the restaurant group.

In total, 25 restaurants are going to be affected by the business’ restructuring, 23 of these are the famous Jamie’s Italian chain.

The 42-year-old father-of five said: ‘I am deeply saddened by this outcome and would like to thank all of the staff and our suppliers who have put their hearts and souls into this business for over a decade.

‘I appreciate how difficult this is for everyone affected.

‘I would also like to thank all the customers who have enjoyed and supported us over the last decade, it's been a real pleasure serving you.’

He continued: ‘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.’

Jamie’s restaurants have faced financial difficulties in the past two years, with a number of Jamie’s Italian chains, as well as Barbecoa restaurants closing down.

In 2017, the last of his Union Jacks restaurant closed down, which had been serving food for almost 10 years.

The TV chef, best known for his Naked Chef books, healthy recipes, and TV shows including Jamie Oliver’s 5 Ingredients, previously put £12.7m of his own money into his restaurant business to keep them afloat.

Just last year, Jamie described the struggle for survival on the high street for restaurants, revealing: 'It's like any other business on the high street, it's just really, really tough.

‘We're in a changed time and obviously there's lots of pressures even for good businesses.'