Jamie's Italian to finish repaying creditors this month
The troubled chain entered in to a CVA in January with the agreement to close 12 under performing restaurants and operate with rent reductions at a further eight.
In its most recent accounts the company says that though the CVA runs until December it expects to complete all “compromised creditor payments” by October 2018.
As reported last week, the filings show Jamie’s Italian recorded a post-tax loss of £29.3m in the year to 31 December 2017, with like for like sales falling 8%.
The group says exceptional costs in 2017 included the aborted Fish and Coal project in London – a site now taken by Tom Dixon at Coal Drop’s Yard – and a committed site in Southampton which did not open.
Of the eight sites which secured rent reductions under January's CVA, five landlords have given the group notice to “vacate”, though a new lease has been signed on one.
The company expects to trade from a total of 24 restaurants by the end of 2018.
It also remains optimistic about future trading. Jon Knight, CEO of the Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group, wrote in the filings that the directors ‘believe that the quality of Jamie’s Italian offer, food and providence and healthy ethos sets it apart from the competition and will ensure that with continued focus the company will perform well and meet its future growth objectives’.
Jamie’s Italian says it has used a "significant amount” of consumer research and customer feedback to determine its strategy going forward.
It is investing in its remaining restaurants, with a new design menu, service and “experience”.
The group is also reviewing its supply chain to cut costs and planning new “commercial alliances” with other restaurant operators to drive top-line growth.
Looking overseas
Speaking at MCA’s Restaurant Conference last week, Knight described the CVA process as “painful and insightful”.
He added that he hoped Jamie’s Italian would be viewed as a “global brand with a bit of a problem in the UK”.
The Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group is continuing to expand its international business, with nine new restaurants opened in 2018 so far and more forecast to launch by the end of the year.
