TURNOVER at Jamie's Italian, the restaurant chain launched by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver six year ago, has surpassed the £100 million mark for the first time.
Reporting a "solid" performance in its full year results, for the year ending January 5, 2014, the business, which has a restaurant in Lendal, reported revenues of £101.8 million, 8.5 per cent higher than the previous year's turnover of £92.5 million.
However, pre-tax profits fell to £5.6 million from £7.7 million a year earlier, with EBITDA also falling by 9.6 per cent to £12 million.
The group said the "short-term" impact on profitability was down to the development and launch of its 'Gold Club' customer reward scheme and "heavy investment" across its international operations during the period.
Jamie's Italian was founded in Oxford in 2008 and now has 36 restaurants across Great Britain with a global workforce of more than 2,500 staff.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here