Jamie Oliver to relaunch Jamie’s Italian six years after collapse, drawing fresh creditor backlash

Jamie Oliver is moving to relaunch his Jamie’s Italian restaurant chain six years after its £83 million collapse, a plan that has drawn sharp criticism from creditors who say they recovered little from the administration. The revival, announced earlier this month, comes after 25 UK restaurants closed and about 1,000 jobs were lost as the business exited administration and liquidation.

The relaunch is being steered by Brava Hospitality Group and will begin with a Leicester Square location in London, with a broader rollout planned across the country if the concept gains traction. The timing is pitched as a way to refresh the brand and bring what Oliver has described as consumer “surprise and delight” back to a casual dining proposition that once dominated UK high streets. The earlier collapse, which began with the contraction from a peak of about 40 Jamie’s Italian outlets in 2017, culminated in Oliver telling staff that it was the result of struggles in the casual dining sector and rising business rates, and the administrators were called in two years later.

In 2022, liquidators confirmed unsecured creditors received just 2.47 pence in the pound, with £520,000 paid on unsecured claims of £21 million. Secured creditors, including HSBC, were owed £39.4 million, and Oliver’s own company – which was owed £18 million – recovered only a fraction of the total debts. The Government’s Redundancy Payments Service stepped in to pay off staff who otherwise received nothing from the liquidation. A Jamie Oliver spokesman was contacted for comment about the revival and the creditor concerns, but no detailed response was publicly released.

Two creditors who spoke to the press expressed mixed views about the relaunch. Lee Wilmot, who ran Rational Technical Services out of Bedford and worked on servicing ovens and other kitchen equipment for Jamie’s Italian, said he was disappointed to be left out of pocket. “When I see him on adverts, I switch the channel over. It leaves a sour taste in the mouth because I believe business has to be done as ethically as possible. I got a cheque for £175 on a £5,000-£6,000 debt. Small businesses do tend to suffer more, and everyone suffers when companies go into administration. But it is the smaller companies that find it harder to accept the debt write-off,” he said.

Kenneth Naidu-Johnson, who runs Unique Cleaning Systems in nearby Bicester and worked with Jamie’s Italian before the collapse, said the losses were substantial. “My wife likes watching his TV programmes. I can’t even go in the room. No one had any idea that he was just going to liquidate. And me being naive – I had only had the business for five years at that point – I completely trusted Jamie,” he said, describing the personal impact of the administration.

Another creditor, Liberty Wines, said Oliver and his company acted professionally during the collapse and that it was treated fairly in the process. A spokesperson for Liberty Wines emphasized that its claim of £123,000 reflected a broader pattern in which some suppliers felt left behind, while others believed the process was handled with more compliance and communication.

The relaunch will be backed by Brava Hospitality Group, with plans to re-enter the market through a flagship venue before expanding to other locations. Brava’s involvement signals a concerted push to reintroduce Jamie’s Italian as a live dining concept rather than a rapid-rollback rebrand. In addition to the Leicester Square site, the new project is expected to feature a refreshed menu and dining experience designed to appeal to families and casual diners looking for affordable Italian-inspired meals.

The discussion around the relaunch underscores broader tensions in the UK casual-dining sector, where restaurant concepts have faced upheaval amid rising costs, changing consumer habits, and the challenge of balancing brand equity with debt-resolution realities. Advocates of the revival argue that the new venture can offer a more sustainable structure for suppliers and staff, while critics question whether pursuing a relaunch recreates a business model that previously proved vulnerable to the market pressures that contributed to the collapse.

A Jamie Oliver representative declined to comment extensively on the creditor responses or the detailed terms of the relaunch. However, the case highlights ongoing questions about how well unsecured creditors recover value when a high-profile restaurant brand goes into administration, and whether a revived concept will deliver improved conditions for smaller suppliers and former staff compared with the prior liquidation.

As the project advances, industry observers will be watching not only customer reception but also financial arrangements with suppliers, staffing, and governance controls that could determine whether this relaunch survives another cycle of market stress. Market participants say the outcome will hinge on disciplined cost management, a more robust repayment plan with creditors, and a brand strategy that can translate Oliver’s public appeal into sustained foot traffic across multiple locations.