Fifteen Faces Flack in Independent Review

JAMIE Oliver’s Fifteen charity has been slated by an independent review which the celebrity chef commissioned himself in an effort to iron out any mistakes the venture may have made along the way.

The report into the early days of Fifteen London – entitled Life in the Present Tense – claims the charity, which was set up to support trainees from disadvantaged backgrounds through an apprenticeship, offered inconsistent training and patchy support and counseling to the young chefs.

According to the report, just over half of the 106 trainees who began their apprenticeship with Fifteen London went on to complete the course.

The report, set to be published next week, says: "It was assumed that everyone, inspired by Jamie`s example, would just get it and the training would work.

“The truth is that the start-up of Fifteen was messy and the boat left port without all its sails and supplies ready."

Oliver hopes that the mistakes made at Fifteen London can offer guidance for the management of its sister restaurant Fifteen Cornwall in Newquay.

Oliver writes in the report`s foreword: "We haven`t always got it right. But without taking risks, we won`t make progress."

The chef commissioned the report as he believes all charities should have their work and performance independently assessed.

Dave Meneer, chief executive of Fifteen Cornwall, told the Cornishman that the Newquay establishment had reaped the benefits of opening after the initial enterprise in London.

"It`s always tricky," he said. "We go out of our way to find people from troubled backgrounds.

“You have to be careful to get youngsters with their heart in the right place and I think we have done slightly better than London in that respect."

The decision by Oliver to commission the review breaks the mould for charitable organizations, but Fifteen director Liam Black said that charities are under a moral and business obligation to publicly review its practices.

He told the Times: “There are two reasons why all charities and social enterprises should do this.

“One, they get support from the taxpayer in terms of Gift Aid or/and other tax relief so there is an obligation to the taxpayer to be able to say here is some evidence about what works.

“Second, there is a a straight business case. If you don`t understand what you are doing, if you don`t get someone from outside the culture to verify it, how do you know how to improve things?

“What we are trying to do is very difficult – to turn young people from very difficult backgrounds into chefs and we have to be honest about how well we are doing and I think our funders will prefer that.”