Jamie Oliver’s restaurant group is hoping to have as many as 120 sites opened globally by next year, with ambitious plans to expand its portfolio to over 200 sites by 2027.
Hoping to bring the number of sites to 90 from 72 by the end of the year, the celebrity chef is then planning an additional 25 to 30 openings in 2024, Ed Loftus, global director for the Jamie Oliver Group, revealed.
“We have a robust plan to get the group to 200-plus sites by 2027 and that’s our focus. We think we can definitely deliver on that. And that might feel like a lot, but dispersed across the globe it feels achievable,” Loftus revealed.
Currently operating in 24 markets worldwide, the group uses a franchise model to run its restaurants and signed its first partner, Berlin-based BMB Gruppe, back in February, with the franchisee expected to open a site under the Jamie Oliver Kitchen brand later this year.
Oliver’s focus has been on international expansion after the collapse of his UK restaurant business in 2019, but the British restauranteur is returning to the country in 2023, with the upcoming opening of a site in Covent Garden.
Using eight franchise formats, Oliver offers brands including Jamie Oliver’s Pizzeria, Jamie’s Deli, and the Jamie Oliver Cookery School.
London’s opening poses a significant move but Loftus emphasized that it is a one-off venture to create a flagship for the business, emphasising the strategy is aimed at building an estate within Europe, having already signed another franchise partner in the Balkans region.
Loftus added: “We have a European focus at the moment, and we want to build up some density in the key markets there, but the US is something we’re looking at.
“We’re growing with our existing partners and bringing new ones on board. It’s exciting.”