Jamie Oliver 'lost around £25m' in collapse of restaurant group

22-Jul-2019 - Last updated on 27-Apr-2021 at 12:26 GMT

Related tags Chefs Casual dining Restaurant Jamie oliver

Jamie Oliver lost almost £25m of his own money with the collapse of his UK restaurant empire, documents show.

The chef’s casual dining business fell in to administration in May with the closure of 22 sites and the loss of around 1,000 jobs.

The joint administrators’ report from KPMG shows Jamie Oliver Holdings Ltd (JOHL), his successful media and publishing arm, provided secured loans of £18.3m to support the ailing restaurant group, of which it will only recover around £2m.

Creditors are also facing losses of £83m, according to The Times, almost half of which will be shouldered by HSBC, which provided £39.4m in the form of secured debt.

JOHL has paid out £4.7m to HSBC since the administration, which alongside inter-company loans of £3.5m lift Oliver’s total losses to around £25m.

The chef also used JOHL to reportedly pay out just over £1m to cover wages owed to staff at the time of the collapse.

KPMG says the restaurant group, which includes the Jamie’s Italian chain, appointed advisers to find a buyer for the business in late 2018, but was unsuccessful.

Only the chef’s three sites at Gatwick airport remain open following a sale to food travel specialist SSP.