Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Cornwall has announced its sudden closure just over a week before Christmas, leading to the loss of 100 jobs.
The restaurant was a charitable operation which trained people from disadvantaged backgrounds to become chefs, and celebrated welcoming its one millionth customer this April. Fifteen Cornwall was inspired by the original Fifteen in London, which was a non-profit restaurant that trained up to 15 young people a year to work in the restaurant industry.
Although Fifteen Cornwall bears Oliver’s name, the celebrity chef actually does not own the restaurant, nor does he have any financial involvement with it. Instead, Fifteen Cornwall uses Jamie Oliver’s name under a licence agreement, but is actually owned by charity the Cornwall Food Foundation.
Fifteen Cornwall
The sudden closure has resulted in the loss of jobs at both the restaurant itself and at the charity which oversees it. Staff were reportedly told on Thursday that Fifteen would be shutting its doors for good, with The Sun reporting that some staff burst into tears when the news was delivered.
In a statement announcing the closure, Fifteen Cornwall said: “We are deeply saddened to announce that today Fifteen Cornwall will close and cease trading with immediate effect.
"We are profoundly sorry for the hurt, loss and distress this announcement will undoubtedly cause. We are extremely grateful to all our loyal customers, supporters and amazing suppliers and to the partners, staff and trainees that have made Fifteen Cornwall and the Cornwall Food Foundation so special for almost 14 years."
Upon learning on the restaurant’s closure, Oliver released the following statement: “I am very surprised and saddened to learn that Fifteen Cornwall and the Cornwall Food Foundation have closed. Both organisations have always been run separately from us, but the team has done an amazing job with the trainee programme, training over 200 chefs and reaching so many more along the way - so this is a huge blow. My thoughts are with everyone affected.”
Jamie Oliver has already been in the press this week, revealing that he sometimes uses an iPad to ‘hypnotise’ his son into eating.