Jamie Oliver turns attention to tackling childhood obesity after restaurant empire crumbles

Jamie Oliver has turned his attention to tackling childhood obesity, after his restaurant empire crumbled.

The TV chef confirmed the news on Friday, sharing plans for his ‘legacy’ in a report.

In a message shared in the report, 44-year-old explained: ‘For two decades I’ve been focused on trying to create a healthier food environment – one that better serves the needs of consumers now, as well as for future generations.

‘As an organisation, we always aspire to balance creativity and commerciality with social purpose, and this report is an important step in helping us become a best-in-class business with a clearly measurable social impact.’

Discussing the tough few months he has been through, after being forced to close a string of restaurants, he continued: ‘My business is not perfect, but we’re on a journey and this report is an honest assessment of how we operate, as well as the values that guide me and my teams.

‘In many respects, 2019 has been a difficult year with the administration of the UK restaurant business, but I am more committed than ever to becoming even better at what we do.

‘The challenges we’ve weathered have galvanised us to be more effective, more focused and more impactful.

‘I want to take luck out of the equation – I want social responsibility to be fully baked into everything we do.’

The report shares Jamie’s plans to halve childhood obesity by 2030, through campaigning – as well as using his TV shows, books and products.

In a recent documentary charting his life and career, the dad-of-five could be seen breaking down over the collapse of his restaurant empire, earlier this year.

He lost £25million after his chain of Jamie’s Italian restaurants went into administration, as well as Barbecoa and Fifteen, resulting in more 1,000 job losses.

And, during Jamie Oliver: The Naked Chef Bares All, Davina McCall took him to revisit his first-ever eatery.

Breaking down, he told the host: ‘The staff got paid up to the date and I made sure of that.

‘The hardest part was telling staff that they haven’t got a job anymore.’

‘To survive in this industry is tough. I was very naïve,’ he added. ‘I was good at running one restaurant.’

‘I opened lots of big restaurants and people like small restaurants and we sort of has these big cathedrals we couldn’t fill.’

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