Jamie Oliver 'deeply saddened' after sad news regarding the future of his business

Popular chef Jamie Oliver has today announced the sad news that his restaurants have been forced to file for administration.

His selection of chain restaurants - including Jamie's Italian - has run up hundreds of millions of pounds of debt.

It's thought that the crash into administration has put around 1,300 jobs at risk around the UK.

This morning Jamie himself shared a statement about the news, admitting that he was 'deeply saddened' by the development, before thanking his staff for all their work over the years.

He said, "I am deeply saddened by this outcome and would like to thank all of the staff and our suppliers who have put their hearts and souls into this business for over a decade,

"I appreciate how difficult this is for everyone affected. I would also like to thank all the customers who have enjoyed and supported us over the last decade, it’s been a real pleasure serving you."

Back in 2017 Jamie revealed that his restaurant chain was on the brink of collapse, revealing that it had 'simply run out of cash'.

The unfortunate difficulties meant that Jamie - who has a net worth of £240 million - was forced to plug £12.7 million of his own money into the business to save it from administration - a decision he had to make in just two hours.

A total of 25 restaurants will be affected, 23 of which are Jamie's Italian's, while the other two are named Barbcoa and Fifteen.

In his statement, Jamie added, "We launched Jamie's Italian in 2008 with the intention of positively disrupting mid-market dining in the UK High Street, with great value and much higher quality ingredients, best-in-class animal welfare standards and an amazing team who shared my passion for great food and service. And we did exactly that."