Jamie dishes up a bailout for his charity diner
JAMIE OLIVER’S efforts to train chefs from disadvantaged backgrounds appears to have turned into a recipe for disaster for the celebrity chef.
Accounts filed this month show the 43-year-old was forced to pump his own money into his flagship Fifteen restaurant when it began to struggle financially.
The east London diner tumbled from a profit of £316,355 to a loss of £263,112 over the course of 2017, while turnover fell 2.7 per cent to £2.6 million.
As a result, Oliver was forced to inject an undisclosed sum into the business – owned by his charity – which has trained more than 500 apprentices since it opened in a blaze of publicity in 2002.
Oliver views Fifteen as “his baby” and a source said that there was “no question” that he would step in to save it.
The losses have proven costly for the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation which campaigns on health issues and funds food education courses in schools and community groups.
Its reserves fell from a surplus of £378,267 to a deficit of £460,996, “mainly due to losses incurred by Fifteen restaurant”, the accounts state.
Last year, Oliver put almost £13million of his fortune into Jamie’s Italian to help keep 25 restaurants afloat after debts of £71.5million forced the closure of 12 outlets.
He later said: “I haven’t got any more [money to invest].”
It is understood his foundation is winding down and transferring its activities to other parts of Oliver’s business empire.
The chef, who was awarded an MBE is 2003, aims to set up a new charity with the aim of halving childhood obesity by 2030.