Not so Fabulous Feasts: Jamie Oliver's company loses £340,000 in a year

Updated

It had all the ingredients for success - instead Jamie Oliver's latest business venture has turned out to be a recipe for disaster. The Naked Chef invested £200,000 into a catering business serving events and festivals. Unfortunately, the 'Fabulous Feasts' company made an astounding loss of more than £340,000 in less than 12 months, reports the Daily Mail.

Jamie Oliver
Jamie Oliver


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A tribunal heard how the couple he trusted to run the business - Glen and Susie Chadwick - had 'lost control' of the company, alienated staff to the extent they wanted to quit, and had overseen it 'haemorrhaging money'.

Mr and Mrs Chadwick are suing the TV chef for unfair dismissal and claim that they were not told they were at risk before they were fired.

Oliver's investment partner Nigel Harris described how the couple had been responsible for a 'disastrous' performance at the Winter Wonderland festival in Hyde Park last year.

The Fabulous Feasts stall offered poor service, he told the tribunal, with simple dishes taking more than 10 minutes to arrive and staff being clueless as to the menu.

"Jamie Oliver is ruthless in ensuring that waiting staff know about any items on the menu, including its provenance, and Glen and Susie fell well short of his instructions," he said.

He added that the stall's bins were not being emptied and when Mrs Chadwick was asked to help she 'looked shocked' at being asked to perform a menial task.

The Chadwicks, who have more than 20 years catering experience between them, met Jamie through Mr Harris, a mutual contact and fresh food expert.

They closed their own business to set up Jamie Oliver's Fabulous Feasts Ltd last year, putting £300,000 of their own money into the venture, along with an investment of £200,000 from Oliver.

"The proposal was that the Jamie Oliver Group would bring the brand and we would bring the contacts," Mrs Chadwick explained.

There were more than 100 stalls at the Winter Wonderland festival last year – and Fabulous Feasts was the only one not to turn in a profit. It was expected to take £400,000 – but instead lost £350,000.

A verdict is expected to be delivered next month.

What do you think? Should Jamie stick to TV work? Leave a comment below...

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