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Brisbane group keeps Jamie Oliver’s restaurant brand alive in Australia

Sarah Stowe

The Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group in Australia has collapsed but the celebrity chef’s brand is continuing under a franchise agreement.

Brisbane’s Hallmark Group will be managing the five Jamies’ Italian restaurants in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Parramatta and Adelaide. The Canberra outlet has been closed.

Last year the Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group bought back the Aussie restaurants when its original franchise operator, the Keystone Group, went into receivership in 2016.

Now the the Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group has been put into voluntary administration with BDO.

A spokesperson for Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group Australia, said “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.

“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.”

A Hallmark spokesperson said the group was “thrilled” to partner with the Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group’s Australian portfolio.

“We’ll be working closely with Jamie and the UK team, staff and local suppliers to keep driving the business forward and delivering exceptional experiences across the country. Hallmark are actively seeking new suitable locations for the next Jamie’s Italian.”

Hallmark will not be sub-franchising the outlets but will operate all the restaurants.