JAMIE OLIVER REVIVES ITALIAN CHAIN 6 YEARS AFTER COLLAPSE

Jamie Oliver is bringing his Italian restaurants back to the UK six years after the chain collapsed into insolvency, returning at a time when the industry's facing what he calls a "horror show" of higher costs and weak demand.

- MADDIE PARKER

British TV chef Jaime Oliver in 2019.

The celebrity chef-turned-entrepreneur is reviving the Jamie's Italian brand, and aims to open the first site of its UK reincarnation in London's Leicester Square in February.

This time, instead of taking on all the risk himself, the 50-year-old has agreed a franchise deal with Brava Hospitality Group, the company behind the Prezzo Italian chain, that will earn him part of the money made from the restaurants.

Oliver rose to prominence in the late 1990s when he was in his 20s, becoming a popular TV chef who focused on simple recipes and went on to become of the UK's bestselling authors with his cookery books.