How did Jamie Oliver’s UK Restaurants Fail and What Can we Learn?

Colin Powell once said there are no secrets behind the thing we know as success. Instead, success is achieved through preparation, hard work, and — most importantly — accepting and learning from failure.

Moreover, plenty of other people say failure is to be built upon, instead of forgotten. With that in mind, today we’ll be taking a look at one of the most recent failures involving a restaurant chain, namely Jamie Oliver’s chain in the UK.

Even though Oliver is a very successful individual, we will not focus on that. Instead, we will examine his failures so we can learn from them. So, without any further ado, let’s see how Oliver’s chain of restaurants failed and, most importantly, how to process this information and turn it into a lesson.

Seconds Before the Disaster

As you may know, Oliver’s chain is not the only one having problems. The Italian restaurant chain Strada has cut its branches down to three and Carluccio’s closed almost a third of its restaurants.

Reportedly, tens of millions of pounds were lost in the process.

Despite the general trouble in the industry, Oliver’s staff believed everything would turn around. Although most of them knew that things were not going well, they still thought the situation would soon get better.

Disaster did strike. Each of the staff received an email inviting them to a conference call. They couldn’t go in person to the restaurants because the locks had already been changed. During the conference call, the staff were told they had been fired and would be let go effective immediately.

Reportedly, the issue here was the lack of transparency within the business. Former employees have stated that management should have just told them the truth instead of telling them things were going to be fine.

• What can we Learn from This?

Naturally, the employees’ ignorance of the restaurants’ status was a big deal. Even though it might seem unlikely, employees will perform better when they know what to expect from the business they’re working for. Moreover, if they know the worst is possible, the news won’t be as shocking when it happens.

Communication between all of a chain’s employees — as well as owners — is crucial when it comes to the well-being of a business.

Multiple Issues

Reportedly, there were various things that sent the restaurant chain towards failure. First of all, it is said that the restaurants were too big for the number of employees working in them.

Busy evenings would lead servers to work 11 tables at once. Even chefs and managers felt pressured and overburdened in that situation. In short, Oliver took on a challenge that he was not ready for. He tried to accommodate as many customers as possible in a single sitting even though the staff numbers were low.

• Voucher Schemes

Although a voucher sounds good — especially when you want to eat at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant — people said it did nothing but attract bargain hunters. As a result, the chain did not inspire loyalty and didn’t attract regular customers.

One of Oliver’s former employees, Lucy, said the restaurant’s key clientele were tourists or people who were just passing by. Few people came to dine in the restaurant because they were excited about being inside Oliver’s establishment.

• Local Ratings

Oliver wanted to disrupt mid-market dining in the UK High Street by presenting his customers with great value and high-quality ingredients. However, the cost of those ingredients meant his restaurants were actually quite expensive.

The result?

Oliver’s chain of restaurants was not on TripAdvisor’s top list. Those checking the local ratings didn’t feel compelled to give his restaurants a try because the reviews were mostly complaints.

As Lucy pointed out, the truth is that the chain restaurant market is dying. There are various other cheaper places where you can enjoy a meal.

The Chain Grew too Big

Although some people think Oliver is not at fault, most agree that the chain grew too big and he was overambitious. As mentioned before, he embarked on a journey he was probably not ready for.

Although most employees consider working in Oliver’s restaurants to have been a good experience because of the apprenticeship programs and all the other things he promised, things still went south.

Given the economic uncertainty that business owners face nowadays, they should probably not aim for expansion. In the end, while Oliver wanted more from his chain, it was the staff that had to endure the costs of management’s decisions.

Trends

It is well-known that more and more mid-market chains have either struggled to stay alive or simply got shut down in recent years. Back in 2017, Oliver had to close the last Union Jack restaurant as well as his magazine.

The famous chef was simply not able to keep up with the industry’s changing trends. Instead, he had to keep his chain in constant evolution, by adapting the menus, the choice of drinks, and the way his restaurants interacted with customers.

Small vs. Big

When it comes to chain restaurants — specifically, in the case of those similar to Oliver’s — prices are always sure to rise. Rent will become more expensive and competitors will arrive on the scene, leaving restaurants with only one thing to do — come up with a point of difference.

In this respect, it’s worth taking a look at smaller restaurant chains. They don’t face the same pressure as larger chains and have both the flexibility and the freedom to come up with fresh ideas. As a result, these smaller brands are now performing better than big chains such as Oliver’s.

The Bottom Line

Now, it’s time to analyze Oliver’s failure and find what we can learn from it.

First of all, it’s certain that Oliver will learn from his mistakes and probably won’t give up on his dreams. Let’s see what he — and you, in case you want to pursue such dreams — should do.

• Transparency — All the people working for you should have an idea of how your business is currently performing. If downfall is predicted, they should be aware of this and prepare accordingly.
• Customer interaction — While voucher schemes seem like a good idea, it is better to explore new ways of rewarding your regular customers, mainly because vouchers are not that good at creating customer retention.
• Ratings — Now that so much of the business world is based on customer ratings and reviews, one should always have in mind a model of business that is popular on these marketing channels.
• Expansion — Even if a larger business is what you aim for, you should know when to expand or when to stop and reconsider some of your choices. Also, keep in mind that bigger is not necessarily better anymore. A huge undertaking has a higher chance of failure. Even though you can learn from failure, it is still better if you try to avoid it in the first place.
• Trends — When it comes to trends, things are always uncertain. Today’s trend might as well be tomorrow’s old news. Nevertheless, you should always keep an eye on what’s happening in the business world and try to incorporate it into your own business.
• Size — As mentioned before, bigger is not always better. While everyone wants a larger, more, diverse chain, a smaller one that’s just as good might be optimal.

Conclusion

In the end, it is clear that uncertainty was the biggest factor in Oliver’s chain restaurant failure. Naturally, everyone will deal with uncertainty when doing something, no matter the field. Therefore, you are absolutely guaranteed to experience failure.

But failure should be embraced. It goes without saying that you would learn much more from one single failure than from one triumph. Success doesn’t come with as many lessons.

On the other hand, failure is a much more complex process of trial and error. It can contribute to the making of a person that will be able to take everything into account before rushing for success.

It’s wiser to embrace the failures you are experiencing than to deny them in favor of small, short-term successes.