Marco Pierre White slams ‘delusional’ Jamie Oliver for blaming Brexit for failures

Celebrity chef Marco Pierre White has hit out at Jamie Oliver for blaming Brexit over the collapse of his restaurant empire.

The ‘Naked Chef’ saw 25 of his Italian, Barbecoa and Fifteen eateries close in May when the brands went into administration with around 1,000 jobs lost.

Speaking on Radio 4 earlier this week, Mr Oliver blamed the failures on the high street becoming ‘Uber-fied’ and the uncertainty of Brexit causing people’s eating habits to change. 

But, speaking at his Steakhouse Bar & Grill restaurant at The Cube in Birmingham, Mr White dismissed the claims and questioned whether Mr Oliver was ‘delusional’.

It is the latest bout in a long-running feud between the pair, with Mr Oliver previously calling Mr White a ‘Mafia-don-type character’ after he was branded a ‘fat chef with a drum kit’ by Mr White.

He added he had previously had a ‘horrific’ experience at a Jamie Oliver restaurant at Gatwick Airport last year due to the wait for his food, suggesting the service may have also had an impact on a drop in trade.

Mr White said: ‘I have read Jamie is blaming his business failure on Brexit but I really don’t understand that at all.

‘Wouldn’t that mean then all restaurants have gone bust too?

‘I don’t think he can blame Brexit. It’s the lamest excuse in the world. I think it is wrong to blame Brexit. We’re all in the same boat. If it’s Brexit’s fault, we’d all be bust.

‘How can you blame everyone but yourself? Is he delusional?’ 

On his previous experience dining at a Jamie Oliver restaurant, Mr White said: ‘The only time I’ve ever dined at a Jamie’s was at Gatwick Airport. I’ve dined twice there, most recently, last year.

‘Both times I had to wait a very long time for my food. It was horrific. We all make mistakes, we all have bad days.

Mr Oliver, pictured, said Brexit uncertainty had changed people’s eating habits and also blamed the high street being ‘Uber-fied’

The TV chef believes people stopped eating at restaurants because of uncertainty when Brexit was announced after the 2016 referendum. He said: ‘When there’s that chain reaction, throw a bit of Brexit in, say the B word, confidence goes and people’s habits changed’

‘But I’ve got to say it was consistently bad on both occasions. It wasn’t my decision to eat there both times – the people I was with chose to go there, but you wouldn’t want to go to another Jamie’s after that.

‘Even if you enjoyed your food, bad service always leaves a sour taste in the mouth.’ 

The pair have been embroiled in previous war of words over the past decade, with Mr Oliver calling him a ‘psychological bully’ in 2014.

But he added he did not ‘hate’ Mr White and added he was once his childhood hero. 

Mr White also criticised Mr Oliver in 2010 over his campaign to ban turkey twizzlers from schools five years earlier, claiming it was ‘unfair’ of his rival to label the product unhealthy. It came after Mr White signed an advertising deal for Bernard Matthews, which produced the twizzlers.

A year later he claimed Mr Oliver was ‘not a real chef’ because he ‘never won a Michelin star’ and was therefore ‘not accepted by the chef world’.

Mr White has his own food franchise, Black and White Hospitality, following a stellar career in the kitchen where he was the first British chef to win three Michelin stars by the age of 32, also becoming the youngest in the world to achieve that accolade.  

Mr White’s group owns the rights to eight brands bearing his name and has locations in New York and Abu Dhabi.  

Explaining his own approach to business, Mr White said: ‘I franchise my brands out to owners then my team and I do the menus, pricing, choose the decor, lighting, music.

It comes after his restaurant group went into administration in May causing the closure of more than 20 restaurants including his Jamie’s Italian range (file picture)

His Jamie’s Fifteen brand (file picture) was also shut down while around 1,000 jobs were lost

‘If I don’t like the colour of the ceiling, I will get it changed. In the past I’ve lowered the ceilings in places – because lower ceilings mean a more buzzy dining atmosphere. And romance is very important for a restaurant.’

He added: ‘As a franchiser, I don’t pay the business rates Jamie did but I work seven days a week.

‘If I’m in the UK I’ll regularly be at one of the restaurants – checking everything is okay.

‘I don’t think Jamie could have gone to Gatwick. Had he gone to Gatwick then he would have realised there were problems there.

‘It’s not enough to put your name above the door. There’s nothing wrong with expanding but you have to have the infrastructure in place – people who understand the restaurant business working for your brand. I don’t think Jamie had that.

‘Our CEO Nick Taplin is a restaurateur and we have a massive infrastructure – people who visit the restaurants every week.’

Mr White’s team also includes executive head chef Jason Everett. He previously worked for the two Michelin-starred restaurant Harvey’s in London in the late 1980s, alongside Gordon Ramsay.

Mr White added: ‘Service, environment and atmosphere is key – more important than food.

‘We’re selling a night out. Here we have the views, the good lighting and live music. It’s all a package.

‘If you worked hard all week and want a treat, then come here and order what we specialise in – steak. We use Campbell’s – which is the Queen’s butchers. You pay for good meat.

‘When we get the bill we say to ourselves – does that represent value? Nothing worse than being stung with a bill that doesn’t represent value.

‘I have a favourite place to eat near where I live in Bath. I’ll have steak and chips or maybe a burger. Is the food the best in the world? No. It’s okay food but I feel comfortable in the environment, that’s what is important.’

When asked why he believes so many restaurants are now closing, Mr White said: ‘If a restaurant closes it’s because it’s too pricey.

In the new two-part programme Jamie Oliver: A Life Through Food – which comes just three months after the majority of his restaurants were closed – he claimed his 40th birthday was ruined by the collapse of his business

Mr Oliver’s Barbecoa Butchery range was another of his brands that fell during the collapse (file picture)

‘It’s all about price points. A lot of people don’t want to spend £50 a head on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

‘They will pay £50 a head on a Friday and Saturday if they’re getting good value for the overall experience.

‘A place that ticks all the boxes. As a customer you should have the choice on the menu to make your dinner as formal and as inexpensive as you want.

‘The whole thing about restaurants is you’ve got to fill them. If you don’t fill them you go bust and blame Brexit.’

Mr Oliver recently said the last few months had been the ‘most disappointing’ of his life.

He told the Times: ‘I did believe I could turn it round. I put in £3million, another £3million, then another £3million, however the numbers went.

‘But there was no good news.’

MailOnline has contacted Oliver’s representatives for comment.