Was his insider trading brother-in-law the TOXIC ingredient? ALISON BOSHOFF on truth behind the collapse of Jamie Oliver's restaurant chain which has left more than 1,000 staff without a job - most famous restaurant dishes

His goose was cooked and his souffle collapsed.
Or, as he may have said more bluntly, someone has stuffed his poussin.
Jamie Oliver, who has sold 40 million books, never seems to have left our TV screen, is undoubtedly the most famous chef in the UK.
But that's not enough to convince diners to pay 4.
A portion of garlic bread for £ 50 or £ 15.
Buy a shrimp at Jamie's Italian chain.
More than 1,000 employees will lose their jobs, and dozens of suppliers will be out of pocket-some of them may even be disastrous.
Banks and creditors, including HSBC, recently agreed in last September to provide more loans to the business, expanding its loans to the reported £ 37 million.
Jamie invested seven pounds on his own.
In September 2017, he used 5 million of his cash as an emergency loan to stop Jamie's Italian from going bankrupt and then top up another £ 5. 2million.
He is convinced of his "transformation"
The plan will be successful.
However, his natural and lively character has never been translated into so many
His restaurant needs a good atmosphere.
Finally, he accused the perfect storm of rising rents and wages, expensive imports and difficult trade.
Yes, and the UK's exit from the EU.
For Jamie, other restaurants such as GBK, Prezzo, Strada and Carluccio's also suffered.
In last February, he closed 12 restaurants and asked his company to arrange voluntarily, a step towards bankruptcy.
Court documents showed that the organization owed 41 pounds at that time.
5 million of creditors.
By this spring, he was looking for an investment partner to take the business away from him.
He said he believes the leisure food market is about to revive and Jamie's Italian food can survive.
He was wrong and appointed an administrator yesterday.
This is a huge blow for Jamie, who will be 44 next week.
He was passionately engaged in the cause because of the happiest memories of growing up in his father Trevor's Clapham Essex cricketer bar.
He wanted to recreate the "perfect cockpit" for diners who had delicious food and value for money ".
'I remember being fascinated by what happened in the kitchen,' he said.
"It seems like a cool place where everyone is working together, making these cute things and doing it with a smile.
"Thanks to the money he earned as a broadcaster, he found a way to build his own chain.
In 1997, when a visiting television worker discovered his first job as a chef at Hammersmith's trendy River Cafe, he ushered in a huge breakthrough.
The direct success of The Naked Chef, the television program he got, promptly spawned his vast business empire, the platform for his campaign on issues such as school dinners and energy drinks, there are also fifteen cooking schools and other charities that help the poor and the poor become chefs.
It is said that his current property is about £ 0. 15 billion.
He lives in a £ 10 million house in Hampstead with his wife Jools and their five children, is a workawayer and often puts 15-
He works an hour a day at the headquarters in north London.
He recently bought a 70-acre 16-century mansion in Essex for £ 6 million.
But the problem is that he was never a businessman.
He left school when he was 16 and his culinary and communication talent made him rich.
But his arrogant attitude towards the restaurant business seems to only diminish his wealth.
To be frank, he once said that some of his business investments were "failed ".
He added: "It is usually not good to go advanced.
In the future, I will probably spend more time getting the second place and doing it well.
"Especially everything except TV shows and books seems to be a disaster.
In a painful twist, the focus now falls on Paul Hunt, a flashy former City trader who happens to be Jamie's brother --in-law.
He has been the CEO of Jamie Oliver Group since 2014, and Jamie has postponed all day --to-
Give him the business.
"Don't forget that my daily job is to be a" jazz hand "and make content for TV and books," explains Jamie . ".
"I can't do anything.
It is widely believed that hunting will eventually bring disaster to the disaster.
Oliver Ellie told me Hunter had to go, though it could mean a tough time for Jamie's beloved sister Anna --
Mary and her family.
The clumsy hunter who married Anna
For more than 20 years, Mary has a manor in clareling.
Formal garden, pool and tennis court
Until recently, it was only a few minutes away from Jamie's own home.
In January, when Jamie was a little further away in Essex, when he bought his Elizabethan mansion, he had discussed with the local council plans to move medieval hooks from the bedroom to the kitchen, so that he can create new dishes with history.
Jamie and Hunter's family spend most of their time together, Anna-
Mary told me last year: "We are very close to Jamie.
I love him very much.
Is Jamie right to appoint his brother? in-
The law governing the business empire?
The chef called him "smart" and "smart" and said he thought he was an "inspiring businessman ".
Still, Hunter was considered a surprising choice to replace the highly respected John Jackson, former business planner of Sir Richard Branson, who resigned as Jamie in 2014 ·
After all, one year after he married Jamie's sister Anna in 1999, he was in trouble with insider trading --Marie.
At that time, he worked for Refco Overseas company in the London division of the United States. S. futures broker.
He and four others were found guilty of "frontline crimes ".
Run ", it's a practice for traders to place orders at a mobile market price for stocks large enough,-
Before trading.
Buy your own stocks and make some money.
He was fined 60,000 and banned from trading for one year.
Hunter claimed he was treated unfairly.
'We violated the trading rules, 'he said.
We do not think we have violated this rule.
Our consultant told us we didn't.
Once in place, Hunter immediately took an axe to the loss-
Be part of Jamie's empire
He closed the JME group that produced kitchenware and his recipe cooking schools, whose final accounts show a net liability of over £ 8. 7 million.
Jamie Oliver's firewood oven is also off.
The union then started running restaurants, which disappointed Jamie personally, as the restaurants started in 2011 and Chris Bianco was a friend called the King of Arizona pizza.
The chain has a debt of about £ 6. 4 million.
In an interview, Paul Hunter said it was a "moment of despair," but the Jamie Oliver brand has expanded so quickly that corrective action is critical.
"We are somewhere in Asia," he said. . .
I think we are involved in 38 different businesses.
Everything from talent agency to graphic design studio to restaurant.
We need to talk about Jamie again.
This is a huge pressure.
We worked until two or three in the morning and slept on the floor of the office if necessary.
We have to make some very difficult decisions.
"This initially had a positive impact on profits, and the accounts of Jamie Oliver Holdings in 2015 showed,
A tax profit of £ 10.
2 million, an increase from £ 200,00 in the previous year.
But in the fall of 2017, it can now be interpreted as a clear signal of the impending disaster.
Jamie's three trusted executives
The general manager of ten years, his head of restaurant business and chief financial officer-
They all left the company in a few weeks.
Oliver's publicist says Hunter is "restructuring ".
But an insider later said anonymously that he was an incompetent bully.
The flying woman forced Jamie to defend Hunt and insisted that the claims were "untrue", "untrue" and "irrational.
Paul Hunter is an arrogant and incompetent loser, a senior said.
He knows almost nothing about restaurants and even more about publishing.
"He messed up his business. on the day of his resignation, the staff should have a big party. . .
Morale is at the bottom.
The claims are "revenge" and "mean", Hunter said.
Meanwhile, Jamie's Italians are losing money.
The Italian chain has expanded from a branch in Oxford in 2008 to 43 in 2016 and is losing a lot, endangering the profitability of the group as a whole.
Diners complain that the restaurant is expensive, probably because of the use of high-welfare ingredients and the tired menu.
They left.
Jamie's consultant doesn't understand why customers buy his books and watch his show.
But choose to eat at a competitor's restaurant.
Jon Knight, a former Mark and Spencer executive, was appointed CEO of the Italian division to be honest about the mistakes that have been made.
'We opened too many restaurants in the wrong place, too fast, 'he said.
"We opened in places where there was no university town and there was not enough tourist elements.
He is optimistic that by 2021, Jamie's Italians will regain profits and no longer be in debt.
This is a desperate hope.
Inspired by memories of his father's bar cricketer, Jamie pursues his romantic dream of offering "decent ingredients, high
Welfare ingredients, mid-range
The market price will rise as long as he can: "This is where I grew up.
I really care.
But, inevitably, the hard business reality has the upper hand and the dream is now dashed.
Or, as he said: "We walked halfway there and then it all went away.
Jamie Oliver closed his restaurant empire yesterday, leaving 1,000 people out of work and the supplier owed millions of millions.
The ovens at 22 restaurants were turned off and the doors were locked, including Jamie's Italian chain. The multi-
The millionaire TV chef has promised to ensure that workers are paid as they deserve.
But the company's collapse has left many employees in tears and anger, and they have to look for jobs as the restaurant industry is in crisis.
Analyzing the reasons for its failure may focus on the role of brother Oliver --in-
Paul Hunt, the law described as "arogan" and "incompetent.
Mr. Hunter, husband of chef sister Anna.
Mary was hired to run Jamie Oliver Limited in 2014 and then became a director, despite reports that she was banned from being a city trader in 1999 for insider trading.
But the company declined the charges against Hunt.
Last year, Oliver said Hunter had led the company through a difficult period of time, "helping to create a healthy, creative workplace ".
Jamie's Italians have struggled for years, and Oliver is said to have used his £ 17 million to make a living.
The chef's personal wealth is considered to be £ 0. 15 billion, and he blamed the chain's difficulties for Brexit and tough deals.
But the real reason, critics say, is that ordinary food and services are overpriced.
An employee of Jamie Italy at King Street Manchester said that it was only when accountants at the bankrupt KPMG showed up that employees found out that they had lost their jobs.
He added: "They gave us a notice that the business has stopped trading so far.
"We don't know.
We have about 15 people. It’s a shock.
Jamie's Italian staff in Birmingham claimed they were fired by email 30 minutes before the company announced its collapse.
Josh Singh, the 24-year-old manager, said: "I am very upset.
We received an email from KPMG and basically said, "I'm afraid you're fired and don't bother to go to work ".
Another employee, who did not want to be named, said: "Email is a very cold way to dismiss employees.
"I'm really angry because Jamie won't be the one looking for a job and trying to pay the bill.
He and his management became greedy. Why pay £100-
Also, will you go for a meal when you feel stressed?
Go to McDonald's.
Yesterday, Channel 4 star Oliver said his family recently moved into a £ 6 million 16 century mansion in Essex.
Yesterday's decision to put the business into management triggered the immediate closure of 20 branches of Jamie Italy, in addition to the barbecue steak house in London and 15 branches of Shoreditch in east London.
This process will not affect 15 restaurants in Cornwall, a social enterprise run by the Cornwall Food Foundation to help vulnerable young people.
But Matthew Thomson of the Foundation said: "It's a very sad day.
There are tears here.
After announcing the restaurant's closure, customers began using social media.
"No surprises," someone wrote.
Have been to your restaurant several times, the food is average and the service is poor.
But the other person said: "I don't know why everyone is going to fight Joe so quickly and always fight well.
KPMG's management, who took over the company, said Oliver had been trying to sell it as a continuing business for months, but failed.
Will Wright of KPMG said: "The trading environment in the casual catering industry is as difficult as I have ever seen.