The Naked Chef, first broadcast in 1999, made Jamie Oliver an international star.

What followed was a flurry of recipe books, campaigns for healthier eating and extra virgin olive oil, all of which made him rich and famous before he had opened a single restaurant.

But then he did, and now Oliver’s restaurant business is in a bit of trouble.

Last month, his company announced that it would be closing 12 of its 37 ‘Jamie’s Italian’ restaurants, reports the Independent.

The remaining 25 have “negotiated rent reductions” as part of a rescue deal with its creditors to keep trading.

Awkward.

But the casual dining chain has been in trouble for a while now.

In December, Oliver invested £3 million (R49 million) of his own money to try keep it afloat, but the latest figures reveal the chain has debts of over £71 million (R1,15 billion), reports The Guardian.

This debt comprises of: £30,2 million (R490 million) of overdrafts and loans; £41,3 million (R671 million) owed to HMRC, landlords, suppliers and other creditors; and £2,2 million (R35,7 million) owed to staff:

Oliver’s spokeswoman says the £71.5m figure paints a distorted picture – £47m is covered by loans from HSBC and Jamie Oliver companies. She adds that money owed to suppliers, the taxman and employees is standard for a business and, she says, everyone has been paid. But the documents show the business was on the verge of going bust.

Wow.

Then, there are his two steak restaurants:

Barbecoa, located in Piccadilly and in the City of London, were up for sale after soaring rents made their continuation unsustainable.

Public health inspectors visited the City restaurant in 2014 and gave it a rating of just one out of five, having found mouse droppings and mouldy carcasses (although it should be pointed out that the restaurant did deal with the issue and there is no reason to believe it has public health problems any longer.)

These closures come after the group, in 2015, shut the last branch of Recipease, his chain of cookery shops. Then, in 2017, they closed the last of their four British-themed cafes, Union Jacks, and folded Oliver’s food magazine, which had been going strong for 10 years.

So where did it all go wrong? Well:

Warning signals emerged in early, when Jamie’s Italian blamed intense competition and rising costs, partly as a result of Brexit, for the closure of six branches.

When accounts for 2016 were published in October, the business had slumped to a £9.9m pre-tax loss from a profit of £2.4m a year earlier.

The loss was caused mainly by the costs of branch closures and handing back a lease for a site in King’s Cross where Oliver had scrapped plans for a giant restaurant, pub and head office complex.

Eina.

Although the crisis at Jamie’s Italian has followed the series of business setbacks for Oliver – who by his own admission has “f*cked up” 40% of his ventures and lost £90 million of his wealth since 2014 – he might just be okay.

In 2016, Jamie made £7.3 million (R119 million) from products and endorsements:

At Jamie Oliver Licensing, which covers his endorsements and range of products and tie-ups, pre-tax profit rose to £7.3m from £7m in 2016. Profit at Jamie Oliver Holdings, which covers his media interests, rose to £5.4m from £1m.

Oliver paid himself £10m in dividends for the year – £6m from licensing and £4m from media. He has never taken any money from the restaurant business.

Oh, and let’s not forget about his £9 million (R146 million) home:

Wicked gorgeous.

[source:independent]