Why Jamie’s Italian is no longer pukka

For a period of time, it seemed as though Jamie Oliver could do no wrong – he was reshaping the way Britain looked at food and his restaurant chains were a thriving success. But now, the tide has changed – his restaurant group, which includes the Jamie’s Italian chain, Barbecoa and Fifteen, has gone into administration, resulting in 1000 jobs being lost. Oliver isn’t the only restaurateur to suffer in the current economic climate, however, so it invites the question of how much was his fault and how much was down to external factors. Time for a taste of the dining sector.

Thinking about why the restaurant chain has failed, there are several answers. Many restaurants survive on the strength of their food, and Oliver’s has seen a massive turnaround in reputation. In 2008, Guardianrestaurant critic Matthew Norman wrote of the first Jamie’s Italian that, “if Jamie can replicate this early Oxford form, he will soon be driving a prize herd of recession-proof cash cows across the land.”

Opinions changed a decade later – in a review from last September, the Sunday Times’ Marina O’Loughlin wrote that her meal was “appalling, a honking, salty swamp of a sauce, brown and dusty with nutmeg. Tiny chunks, not shavings, of tasteless black truffle lurk around, like mouse poos in soup.” Bad reviews in themselves were negated by the hard work of the restaurants’ teams, but they couldn’t counteract the price – as a Jamie’s employee told the BBC, “because of the fact that it is quite expensive, we would not be on the top on TripAdvisor […] there are loads of places you can go that are cheaper.”

The dining experience also suffered because of the size of the restaurants, leading to overburdening the chefs and waiting staff, and tie-ins with voucher schemes didn’t inspire regular customers. Consequently, the key clientele were tourists, and the restaurant’s name did not, in itself, excite potential new customers. Jamie’s Italian was also hit by wider concerns over the quality of ingredients and was caught up in a meat recall by one of its suppliers in early 2018. Headline news about the origin of its food did not help the chain’s reputation.

But then there is also the fact that dining is struggling. In an email to his staff, Oliver blamed “the well-publicised struggles of the casual dining sector and decline of the UK high street, along with soaring business rates” for the company’s collapse. According the trade body UKHospitality, 15 restaurants a week are closing, and this is part of a general decline. From the start of the year to March, there was a 1.1% drop in restaurant numbers. The Italian chain Strada, which was once seen as a competitor to Jamie’s, is down to just three branches and, after losing tens of millions of pounds, Carluccio’s has been forced to close around a third of its restaurants. Burger brand Byron, Café Rouge and Prezzo are also feeling the pinch.

This is linked to the previous decade of rapid expansion, as chains fought over major High Street properties, consequently pushing up rates and causing them to overpay for sites. As the High Street declines, they are suffering from a lack of footfall – younger people in particular are instead frequenting ‘grab ‘n’ go’ restaurants like Itsu and Wagamama, according to EY’s hospitality expert Christian Mole, or places which offer a wider range of healthy options. Profit margins are further under threat from rising food costs, linked to a weak pound and staff costs.

However, it’s not all bad news for the dining sector. According to Karl Chessell, business unit director for food and retain at CGA, “the difference is this huge increase in the supply of the market and, unless you know your customers really well, there’s a pretty crowded market.” Not all chains are struggling – Nando’s and Wagamama retain a strong customer base because they have few direct rivals and their prices are reasonable. The Indian food chains Dishoom and Mowgli are expanding and opening new restaurants, and Leon’s sales were up 15% in 2018 (in large part due to its vegetarian dishes).

The collapse of the Jamie’s chain was down to a perfect storm of negative factors and doesn’t necessarily indicate the end of the casual dining sector – the question now is whether it can adapt to its changing economic environment and truly cater to its customers.