Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is to close his Italian restaurant in Aberdeen, along with five others across the UK, due to the “tough market” post-Brexit.
Six Jamie’s Italian restaurants in total will close by the end of the first quarter of the year, including units in Exeter, Cheltenham, Richmond, Tunbridge Wells and Ludgate Hill, near London’s St Paul’s Cathedral.
The closures have been blamed on the “tough market” and “unkowns” brought on by Brexit, and the rise in price of ingredients in Italy due to the resulting fall of the pound against the euro.
Simon Blagden, chief executive of the Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group, said, “As every restaurant owner knows, this is a tough market and post-Brexit the pressures and unknowns have made it even harder.”
The closures will affect 27 staff in the North East and 120 staff throughout the UK. But the company pledges to offer them alternative jobs at other Jamie’s Italian outlets.
Blagden added, “These closures are in no way a reflection on the dedication and commitment of our staff and my first priority is to try and secure those affected alternative jobs.
“Where this isn’t possible, we’ll be working with them to find alternative employment.”
Oliver currently has 42 Jamie’s Italian restaurants in the UK and more than 36 abroad.
