James Trevor Oliver is a British chef and a famous celebrity too. His chain of restaurants is quite famous in London and gathers a footfall of thousands. Or that used to be the news. Recently, all but three of the restaurants that he has were sent into administration. Jamie Oliver shot into fame about twenty years ago as a chef and has since put in efforts to expand his chain. Up till the very recent of times, he was operating in good weather, but trouble started brewing last year since. He saved his chain by infusing reportedly 13 million pounds of his own money into the business. That proved to be enough at the time, but this year, his own efforts seem not to pay off. He has tried to bail his restaurants out again by bringing in 4 million pounds of his own money but that does not seem to do the trick this time.
Trouble in (food) paradise
Problems persisted for almost two years before James Oliver could no longer help out. In absence of any fresh capital coming in, he had no other option but to send his restaurants to the administration. Only two of his restaurants will remain operational for the time being. The current situation for the chain is not something that they cooked up for themselves, and it has got more to do with the fact that the atmosphere in the business circle is not very favorable right now and there are many issues with the current financial standards. There are not many investors available in the market and the ones that are actively investing; they are looking for something that can offer more solid returns and without the risk factor of restaurants. In the midst of such challenging situations, Jamie Oliver had no other option but to lay down control.
Jobs at stake
There are around 1000 jobs that are being put at stake by the very decision. This is bound to affect a large number of people and in a long term way. Mr. Oliver has said that he has the welfare of everyone involved as his concern. He hopes that the situation turns favorable soon and that his chain is able to get back on its feet pretty soon. He has said that all his workers will be paid the dues that they are owed and nothing will be kept pending on the employees’ side.
This is the second time in the recent months that a food chain has succumbed to financial regulators. This comes on the back of a wave of economic blows to the food market. Experts are of the opinion that the wave will turn around pretty soon and that the unfavorable situations will give way to booming growth prospects. Some people are also blaming the dash of expansion that James Oliver took as the reason behind the fall of his restaurants. Had he been more cautious in his approach, he would not have to close down.
