Signalling yet another nail in the coffin for his UK restaurant empire, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant and chef training school in Cornwall has closed.
As reported by Eater London, the Watergate Bay restaurant closed last Thursday, which will result in up to 100 job losses. The process of liquidating the company assets has already begun.
While Oliver remained the face of Fifteen, the Cornish venue was owned by the Cornwall Food Foundation, which licensed the Oliver brand name.
The charitable trust said in a statement: “We are deeply saddened to announce that Fifteen Cornwall will close and cease trading with immediate effect.”
Matthew Thomson, CEO of the foundation, said: “This is an incredibly sad day for everyone and we will try our best to support those who have been impacted. I am profoundly sorry for the hurt, loss and distress this announcement will inevitably cause.”
Oliver added: “I am very surprised and saddened to learn that Fifteen Cornwall and the Cornwall Food Foundation have closed.
“Both organisations have always been run separately from us but the team has done an amazing job with the trainee programme, training over 200 chefs and reaching so many more along the way – so this is a huge blow. My thoughts are with everyone affected.”
In May Oliver’s UK restaurant business, including his Jamie’s Italian chain, flagship Fifteen in Old Street and two Barbecoa sites, went into administration, putting over 1,000 jobs at risk.
However just last month Oliver announced the launch of a new global restaurant concept called Jamie Oliver Kitchen, which will be rolled out all over the world, starting in Bali and Bangkok.
The first two Jamie Oliver Kitchen venues opened at Kuta Beach in Bali and in the Siam Discovery shopping centre in Bangkok last month.
