Says Jamie: ‘I am deeply saddened by this outcome and would like to thank all of the staff and our suppliers who have put their hearts and souls into this business for over a decade.
‘I appreciate how difficult this is for everyone affected.’
More than 1000 jobs are now at risk by the closures. In Australia, the Jamie's Italian group of restaurants collapsed last year, with five out of six of the restaurants being sold off. The other restaurant, in Canberra, closed and the Parramatta, Sydney, eatery has since closed also.
Some critics have been scathing of Jamie’s restaurants in the UK. Restaurant critic Marina O'Loughlin told the Daily Mail that she would have to be 'paid' to go back to Jamie's Italian in London's Westfield - while analyst Fiona Cincotta said the menu was 'too expensive for mid-range dining and not high-end enough to compete at the more expensive end of the market'.
Another anonymous member of staff said the restaurants were becoming too commercial.
'I felt under pressure to get customers seated and ordered and then out too quickly,’ they told Daily Mail.
'On busy nights it felt like a conveyor belt. Why pay £100 plus for a meal when you feel under pressure to eat it quickly? You might as well go to McDonalds.'
