Jamie Oliver's business empire to post £20m loss for the year

Revelation caps torrid few months for Naked Chef after being forced to shut 12 restaurants and make 600 staff unemployed, while he still manages to pay himself £6 million dividend

Jamie Oliver’s business empire has had a decidedly un-pukka year, new accounts will confirm: it lost £20 million in 2017.

The group – which closed 12 of its restaurants and shed some 600 jobs in February – slumped into the red following a £700,000 profit in 2016, the figures show.

The revelation caps a torrid 12 months for the one-time Naked Chef, who also had to shut one of his two flagship Barbecoa steakhouses in London and was accused of cultural appropriation for a new jerk rice product.

His company – which also includes his publishing and media ventures – said it had struggled with “ongoing challenges of the casual dining sector” including rising costs of rent and labour.

In a previous interview, Mr Oliver – who once waged a war on turkey twizzlers – also suggested problems had been caused by diners taking too many napkins or staff helping themselves to food.

“If it’s not customers stealing things in the toilets and napkins, it’s staff and ingredients and bottles of wine,” he said.

But things could be worse for the 43-year-old: he still managed to pay himself a dividend of £6 million according to the accounts set to be filed with Companies House this week.

The problems at the company’s restaurants were offset by rising sales at the celebrity chef’s media business – which includes his cookery books and TV shows – where revenues rose to £32 million and underlying profits jumped 45 per cent to £8 million.

The strong media performance was driven by the success of Oliver’s 5 Ingredients, Quick & Easy book, which sold a million copies in the UK alone. The accompanying TV series, Jamie’s Quick and Easy Food, was sold in 121 territories across the globe.

Paul Hunt, chief executive of Jamie Oliver Group and the chef’s brother-in-law, said: “The success of our media business, driven by the stellar performance of 5 Ingredients, Quick & Easy Food, was fundamental to our ability to support the restaurant business and ensure its continuity.

“With a reshaped restaurant estate, a new management team, and a focused investment plan backed by HSBC, we are making steady headway in a challenging market.”