Tweet

Jamie Oliver’s upmarket Barbecoa steakhouses in London have crashed into administration, including the groups Piccadilly site which 80 staff members losing their employment.

A newly created subsidiary in Oliver’s business empire buying the group’s other diner  – located near St Paul’s Cathedral –straight out of administration for an undisclosed sum, a last-minute deal for the celebrity chef.

The move comes during a turbulent period in Oliver’s business dealings. Oliver himself had to pump £3M of his own funds into his Jamie’s Italian chain in December and now has plans to close 12 of its 37 UK branches.

A spokesperson for Oliver said: “We can confirm that Barby Limited has been placed into administration. One New Change Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group, has purchased the assets and lease of Barbecoa St Paul’s and will be trading as normal.” One New Change Limited was set up less than three weeks ago.

Whilst in the the previous 12 months it had made a £246,927 profit, Barby made a loss of £473,758 in the year to January 1, 2017 according to its last publicly released figures.