Jamie Oliver boss – we’re reconnecting with customers by going back to our roots

by XPRESS, 06 June 2018

Having seen the Jamie’s Italian business undergo a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) that led to the closure of 12 restaurants, Knight said the business was getting back on track by going back to its roots.

He said the company would concentrate on making the most of the Jamie Oliver name, including pushing the new Jamie’s Italian menu, which the chef has been promoting on social media and television.

Knight is visiting restaurants twice a week to hold customer focus groups – ten of the 26 UK restaurants have held the sessions so far.

Knight said: “Jamie couldn’t have been more supportive of what we’re trying to do and he’s doing as much as he can to promote the new menu.

There has been a disconnection between Jamie and the restaurants and we are bringing that back.

We took the competition for granted a bit.

There’s so much choice out there.

We have to make sure we are creating a USP to entice customers.”

The company has cut menu prices by 8% and increased dishes from about 40 to 54 as it looks to disconnect from discounting.

Knight said: “Our focus is on growing sales and being less reliant on discounts. We’re also investing a significant amount in the restaurants.”

Knight, who ran the international business before becoming chief executive in October, also said growth would come through partnerships with caterer Aramark and food travel specialist SSP.

With Aramark, Jamie’s Italian is to open work place “canteens” with the first location to be revealed within the month.

Meanwhile, three projects are being explored with SSP – two in the UK and one overseas – that will see the partnership expand outside Europe.

Knight said: “We have to look at opportunities away from the high street, where the landscape has changed significantly.

There’s scope in office environments while the Boxpark format also interests me – 2018 is about stabilising the UK business, 2019 will be about growing internationally and away from the high street and in 2020 we can look again at restaurant opportunities in the UK.”

Knight said the CVA had given him sleepless nights but the business was now in a better place.

He added: “It was something we had to do but thinking about the lives and jobs it was going to affect kept me awake.

Thankfully, the numbers weren’t as high as we initially thought. At the same time, there were 1,800 people looking to me to protect their employment. I’m satisfied with where we are at the moment.

If you can fix a business in difficult times, imagine what we can do when the market is on the up again.

We will come out of this a lot stronger.”

Article credit: The caterer