Final Jamie Oliver restaurant sites sold off
In May administrator KPMG appointed property firm Christie & Co to sell 20 of the chef's sites across the country, seven of which are in London.
Indian restaurant group Dishoom has taken on the former Jamie’s Italian site in Covent Garden.
Richard Caring’s The Ivy Collection has reportedly acquired two of the sites in Cardiff and London Victoria, as well as the former Barbecoa unit in St Paul’s.
“Many of these sites are in prime locations within key towns and cities, which helped attract a wide variety of operators and bids,” says Simon Chaplin, senior director at Christie & Co. “We are therefore pleased to have achieved a positive outcome for the joint administrators.”
Oliver’s three restaurants at Gatwick airport are the only sites in his former empire which remain open following their sale to food travel specialist SSP.
In an interview with the You magazine published over the weekend, Oliver said his company had struggled with the larger size of its restaurants and rise in high street business rates.
He told the paper: “If I’d have spent 13 years opening posh restaurants, I could assure you they’d all be open today. Britain has always been good at nourishing the rich. My obsession was mid-market dining. It was so badly represented.”
