- Jamie Oliver has admitted that getting the basics wrong led to the downfall of his restaurant group. Speaking to Davina McCall on her Begin Again podcast, the chef and restaurateur said that his struggle with numbers was a contributing factor in the closure of his restaurant empire. “Sometimes I failed because I was too early, and people weren’t ready. Sometimes I failed because I was too late. Sometimes I failed and I got all the hard bits right and I got the basics wrong because I spent a lifetime refusing to accept any responsibility around numbers and maths, which goes back to school,” he said in the podcast. “It’s my issue not the school’s issue. I didn’t pass maths. Conceptually within that I’m thick. So, when I lost my restaurants, all the hard stuff we got right, all the stuff that most people struggle getting right we got right, we were really good at the hard stuff. It was really the basics.”
- Rick Stein’s restaurant group has called on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to ‘support the recovery’ of the hospitality sector in her forthcoming Budget after reporting a fall in revenue. The Seafood Restaurant (Padstow) Limited and Steins Trading Limited, the group of companies behind the Rick Stein brand, saw their combined revenues fall 5.4% year-on-year to £30.4m in the 12 months ending 31 December 2024. It was subsequently reported that Rick Stein’s group has closed its coffee shop in Padstow, Cornwall, and has confirmed it is consulting with staff with a view to also shuttering its restaurant in Marlborough, Wiltshire.
- The group behind Prezzo Italian has rebranded as Brava Hospitality Group amid plans to transition from a single-brand operator to a broader platform designed to manage and grow multiple concepts. Prezzo Italian will now operate as the flagship brand under Brava Hospitality Group, which will be led by CEO James Brown, who took over the leadership of Prezzo in November last year. As it grows, the Brava Hospitality Group portfolio is set to be made up of a mix of brand-new concepts, as well as existing brands.
- Deepak Mallya has been promoted from executive sous chef to head chef at The Ritz. The appointment sees Mallya – who continues to report to the world-famous London restaurant and hotel’s executive chef John Williams – become second in command of a brigade of more than 60 chefs. “This promotion is very well deserved. Deepak has been instrumental in driving our menus at The Ritz forward and continuously inspiring the kitchen and service teams to evolve,” Williams says. “His creativity has helped to shape the culinary standards that our guests have come to expect and love.”
- German Done Kebab (GDK) has waded into the war for lunchtime trade with a new value menu. The fast-growing QSR brand has launched the Fiver Menu, with five dishes priced at £5, as part of its broader strategy to meet a growing consumer demand for accessible, high-quality dining experiences. The company says that the Fiver Menu is response to customer feedback, not only around more affordable options but also lighter portions and represents the first phase of an evolving offer, with more items being added as the brand continues to scale its presence across the UK high street.