Remaining Jamie Oliver sites sold off saving 250 jobs

The administrator to the Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group has sold off the brand's three remaining trading sites to SSP Group, saving the jobs of 250 staff.

KPMG reached the agreement with the food travel firm after Oliver's restaurant empire fell into administration on 21 May.

SSP, which already operates 12 Jamie Oliver-brand restaurants across Europe, will now take on Jamie Oliver's Diner, Jamie's Italian and Jamie's Coffee Lounge, all at Gatwick Airport.

Simon Smith, chief executive of SSP Group, said: "We're delighted to be expanding our partnership with Jamie Oliver, especially as we already operate 12 Jamie Oliver units in Austria, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain, and have further units planned in Brazil and Bahrain.

"Jamie's cafés and restaurants are much-loved by customers all around the world, so we're very excited to be adding the brand to our UK portfolio and increasing our presence at Gatwick Airport."

Will Wright, partner at KPMG and joint administrator, said: "We are pleased to have reached this agreement with SSP Group, which will see the three Jamie Oliver outlets at Gatwick Airport continue to trade, safeguarding a significant number of jobs."

KPMG was appointed to handle the administration last month and immediately closed 20 Jamie's Italian sites, one Barbecoa restaurant and Fifteen London. The closures resulted in approximately 1,000 redundancies.

Jamie Oliver ‘deeply saddened' as UK restaurant group enters administration>>