Jamie Oliver makes millions but old restaurant is still shut

The Jamie's Italian chain collapsed in 2019 and the restaurant in George Street - the first to open - shut for good.

Ever since, the building has remained boarded up and the city council, which owns it, has been spending £770,000 to renovate it.

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Contractors at the site say they have not been told which company will occupy it but it could be a restaurant chain.

Mr Oliver and his wife, Jools, have paid themselves £6.8m in dividends, up from £5.6m a year before, after a boost in television and restaurant income.

The chef, whose UK restaurant empire collapsed in 2019 with the loss of 1,000 jobs, has 70 restaurants around the world run by franchise partners and has sold two million books spun out from last year’s TV series Jamie’s One-Pan Wonders.

Sales for the group increased by 8.1 per cent to £29.7m and pre-tax profits rose 17.5 per cent to £7.7m in the year to December 31 2022, as it opened 13 new franchise restaurants overseas under several brands, including Jamie’s Italian, Jamie’s Deli and Jamie Oliver Kitchen.

Sales at the chef’s cookery school in London increased by 35 per cent.

Mr Oliver, who also benefited from a deal to help promote the supermarket chain Tesco, has announced plans to open his first directly run restaurant in the UK since he closed 22 Jamie’s Italian outlets, the Fifteen and Barbecoa restaurants in London and a Jamie’s Diner at Gatwick airport in 2019.

At the moment his only UK outlet is a deli in Aberdeen run by a franchise partner.

Jamie Oliver Catherine Street, in Covent Garden, central London, is scheduled to open in November.

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Kevin Styles, a former boss of the Vue cinema chain and the specialist retailer American Golf, became the chief executive of Oliver’s business empire a year ago.

Mr Styles said: “The Jamie Oliver brand continues to resonate with audiences around the world.

"The results for 2022 show we have the foundations in place from which to continue to evolve our business, putting our customers first, serving their mealtime needs across a range of relevant media and product solutions as well as restaurant and cooking experiences.”

He added that the group wanted to create a more integrated food business using digital technology to link Oliver’s media interests, restaurants, licensed products and campaigns for better food.

Soon after the Oxford Jamie's Italian closed on the corner of Gloucester Sreet in 2019, The Real Greek, which has restaurants across London, announced plans to move in but since then the unit has remained empty.

City council spokesman Tony Ecclestone said earlier: "The works are programmed to be completed towards autumn.

"We have a prospective tenant - the identity is confidential. The proposed use is for a restaurant."

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

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