Mere months after the closure of 12 Jamie’s Italian restaurants in the UK and around Europe, The Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group (Australia) went under as well. The company was placed in voluntary administration less than a year after Oliver himself visited Australia to relaunch the six restaurants.
Oliver bought the sites from the failed Keystone Group in November 2016 after it was placed in receivership. Keystone Group first launched Jamie’s Italian in Sydney in 2012 before spreading around the country.
One outlet in Canberra closed immediately, with the other five being given a last-minute reprieve after being sold to Hallmark Group, best known for Irish bar chain Finn McCools.
"Australia has and continues to be one of our best performing international markets and, after a short period of in-house management we are pleased to be partnering with Hallmark,” said a spokesman for The Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group. "The team brings a huge amount of experience and passion for our brand, from collaborating with the key suppliers to our food philosophy, and we look forward to working with them as they develop the Jamie's Italian restaurant offering across Australia."
