Jamie Oliver and Wife Jools Take £2.5m Dividend Amid Business Profit Decline

Jamie Oliver and his wife, Jools, have awarded themselves a £2.5 million dividend from their enterprise, despite a significant drop in profits at their main company.

The dividend received by the Olivers, both aged 49, is almost two-thirds less than the previous year and follows the launch of a new restaurant after the collapse of Jamie’s Italian chain in 2019.

Sales from Oliver’s popular recipe books and the new London restaurant have boosted Jamie Oliver Holdings’ revenue, which reported a turnover of £27 million for 2023, up from £23.6 million in 2022, according to records filed at Companies House.

Nevertheless, the group’s pre-tax profit dropped 37%, to £3.4 million from £5.4 million in 2022.

The business attributed the reduced profit margins to rising costs, including higher staff expenses, investments for future growth, and extra operating and pre-opening costs of their new restaurant, Jamie Oliver Catherine St. Staff costs for the group increased from £10.6 million in 2022 to £13 million last year.

The latest financial accounts for the holding company cover media and restaurants but exclude licensing, which is accounted for separately. Financial records for the chef’s licensing business reported a slight decrease in pre-tax profit to £2.12 million last year, down from £2.22 million.

During the last financial year, Jamie Oliver Holdings Limited declared a £5 million dividend, while Jamie Oliver Licensing declared a £2.75 million dividend.

Oliver’s company prospered from a four-book deal with Penguin, the publisher, while sales at the newly opened Catherine Street restaurant in central London exceeded £335,000 in less than two months.

Oliver’s previous chain collapsed under £83 million in debt, including £21 million owed to food suppliers and councils.

Oliver had invested £12.7 million of his savings in an effort to save the chain, in addition to £37 million in loans from HSBC and subsidies within the Jamie Oliver Group. Despite these efforts, the debt was not cleared, resulting in the closure of most locations and the loss of over 1,000 jobs.

Jamie Oliver has sold more than 40 million copies of his 24 cookery books. His book ‘Jamie’s 30-minute Meals’ sold 735,000 copies in its first week in 2010, setting a record for the fastest-selling non-fiction book at the time.