UK celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's restaurant chain collapses

UK celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's restaurant chain went into administration on Tuesday amid a tough trading environment for casual dining chains across Britain, risking around 1,000 jobs.

The 43-year-old's restaurant group in the UK, which includes Jamie's Italian, Barbecoa and Fifteen, said 25 of its outlets will shut down.

However, the international restaurant franchise business- Jamie's Italian International Limited that is also operational in India as well as Jamie's Oliver Holdings, which operates Jamie Oliver Limited and Jamie Oliver Licensing Limited, remain unaffected and will continue to trade as normal.

"I appreciate how difficult this is for everyone affected," said Oliver, popular around the world for his healthy eating campaigns.

"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," he said, adding that he was devastated by the collapse.

His business has faced difficulties over the past two years, with a number of Jamie's Italian and Barbecoa restaurants shutting down.

In 2017, he closed the last of his Union Jacks restaurants and also shut his magazine Jamie', which had been running for almost 10 years.

The chef also put in GBP 3 million of his own money into his restaurant business in order to save it from bankruptcy two years ago.

Recently, the group had been seeking buyers in recent months after Oliver decided to sell up the UK business amid heavy competition and soaring rents.

The administration, being handled by KPMG, comes after sales at Jamie's Italian dived by nearly 11 per cent last year as it closed 12 restaurants, affecting 600 staff members.