LONDON (AP) – Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is shutting six of his 42 Jamie’s Italian restaurants in Britain amid tough trading conditions and a lower pound following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.
The Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group said Friday that five restaurants in England and one in Scotland would close in the first quarter of 2017.
Chief Executive Simon Blagden said “this is a tough market and, post-Brexit, the pressures and unknowns have made it even harder.”
The company has been stung by the slide in the pound, which has increased the cost of buying ingredients from Italy.
Despite the pressure on prices triggered by the pound’s fall, Britain’s economy has outperformed many economists’ expectations since the June vote.