​Jamie Oliver Says He Hasn’t Got Any More Money To Put Into Jamie's Italian

TV chef Jamie Oliver has admitted he hasn't got any more cash to pump into his struggling restaurant chain, Jamie's Italian - after having putting £12.7 million of his own money into the business.

He said that, given the choice, he would like to do the same again in case the chain saw more financial problems in the future - but it simply wasn't possible.

He told the Mail on Sunday: "I haven't got any more [money]. I tried to do the right thing, I've never been paid by the restaurant group, I've always reinvested. My living was always the other side.

"So I could have just gone 'do you know what? Let it go."

PA

While the father of five said he's not broke, he explained that he simply didn't have a means to keep throwing millions at his restaurant chain.

"There's a point where I can't put the other side of the business at risk as well and the people who work there," he said.

"The upside is I am now fully in control of the restaurant business. It's fully owned by me. We're getting on top of it and we've learned lots of lessons."

Earlier this year, the chain hit headlines when it revealed that 12 of its sites would be closing as it struggled with debts of £71.5m.

With more than 600 people losing their jobs in the process, Oliver said he had no choice but to restructure so as to preserve the 1,600 remaining jobs.

Right at the beginning of this year, Jamie's Italian was also caught up in a meat hygiene scandal, after meat supplier Russell Hume had to cancel all its deliveries when investigators suspected 'serious non-compliance' with food safety rules.

A spokesperson for the Jamie Oliver Group has said no affected food had been sold to customer, telling the Telegraph: "All Russell Hume meat was removed from restaurants as soon as we were notified on Monday. This was a day before the FSA asked for meat to be removed. We also immediately switched suppliers.

"We have very strict higher welfare and food standards and to ensure our suppliers uphold these standards, we have an independent team that audits all our key suppliers, including meat. Following an inspection at the end of last year and the fact we have full traceability on our meat, we can confirm that none of the meat we buy would have been impacted."

Topics: Food, News, Jamie Oliver, UK

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman