Former workers at Jamie Oliver's UK restaurants sue over redundancy

Scores of former workers at celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s failed UK restaurant empire are suing for up to £1 million over an allegedly flawed redundancy process, the Evening Standard has learned.

Law firm SDM Legal is representing more than 70 staff who worked at Barbecoa, Fifteen and Jamie’s Italian before the Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group became a victim of the casual dining crunch and fell into administration in May, with the loss of 1000 jobs.

SDM directors Hannah Durham and Carl Moran are working with the former employees, who allege that specific subsidiaries such as Fifteen Restaurant that went into administration failed to consult with staff for at least 30 days before making them redundant.

When KPMG was appointed administrator to the Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group and its subsidiaries, it said at the time that Jamie Oliver Holdings had made arrangements to ensure all restaurant staff salaries would be paid up to the date of the administrators’ appointment.

The claim is not against Jamie Oliver Holdings, which looks after the chef’s media and franchising interests and continues to trade.

Administrator KPMG declined to comment on the claim.

The claim will be lodged at the Employment Tribunal in the coming weeks. Durham and Moran worked on a similar case to help ex-BHS staff win compensation over how they were made redundant when it collapsed.