The chef’s chains are facing a crisis on the high street. Where did it all go wrong?
Jools Oliver, wife of the celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, set social media abuzz in December when she posted pictures of the couple’s £9m home. The seven-bedroom, Grade II-listed property in London’s rarefied Hampstead was as sumptuous as might be expected for a chef who has built a £150m fortune from a business spanning books, TV, endorsements and restaurants.
But as Jools’s followers admired the fruits of Oliver’s success, he was battling to save Jamie’s Italian, the centrepiece of his restaurant division. In December, Oliver pumped £3m of his own money into the business, and in January the chain said it would close 12 of its 37 UK branches, as part of a rescue deal with its creditors to keep trading.
Related: Jamie Oliver and Wetherspoons caught up in meat recall
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