Will Wright and Mark Orton, partners in KPMG’s restructuring practice, have been appointed joint administrators. The administration covers the Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group Ltd, and its subsidiaries Jamie’s Italian Ltd, Jamie’s Italian Holdings Ltd, One New Change Ltd and Fifteen Restaurant Ltd.

There are approximately 1,300 jobs at risk across 25 restaurants in the UK, including 22 under the Jamie’s Italian brand, in addition to Jamie Oliver’s Diner at Gatwick Airport, Barbecoa and Fifteen London, although the overseas operations are not affected.

It had been looking for additional investment into the business and, since the beginning of this year, Jamie Oliver put £4m of his own money in to support the fundraising. However, with no suitable investment forthcoming and in light of the very difficult current trading environment, the directors resolved to appoint administrators.

Following KPMG’s appointment, all but three of the group’s 25 restaurants have closed. Both Jamie’s Italian restaurants and Jamie Oliver’s Diner at Gatwick Airport will continue to trade in the short term while the joint administrators explore options for the site.

The international restaurants trading as Jamie’s Italian, Jamie’s Pizzeria and Jamie’s Deli will continue to trade as normal and are not affected by the administration of the UK restaurant business.

Wright, partner at KPMG and joint administrator, said: ‘The current trading environment for companies across the casual dining sector is as tough as I’ve ever seen.

‘The directors at Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group have worked tirelessly to stabilise the business against a backdrop of rising costs and brittle consumer confidence.

‘However, after a sales process which sought to bring new investment into the business proved unsuccessful, the team took the incredibly difficult decision to appoint administrators.

‘Unfortunately, with insufficient funds available to be able to trade the business in administration, all but the Gatwick airport restaurants have now closed. Our priority in the coming hours and days is to work with those employees who have been made redundant, providing any support and assistance they need.’

In statement on Twitter, Oliver said: ‘I’m devastated that our much-loved UK restaurants have gone into administration. I am deeply saddened by this outcome and would like to thank all of the people who have put their hearts and souls into this business over the years.’

Pat Sweet