Monday saw the immediate closure of Jamie Oliver’s Canberra restaurant, with the remaining five sites in Brisbane, the Sydney CBD, Parramatta, Adelaide and Perth continuing to operate thanks to The Hallmark Group. Hallmark is best known for its Fortitude Valley Irish bar Finn McCool’s. Following conversations with advisory and investment firm KordaMentha and BDO, directors from Jamie Oliver’s Australian branch met with Hallmark to discuss plans for the future of the chain.

According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, a spokesperson for Hallmark has advised that the group is actively seeking new locations for the next Jamie’s Italian. Jamie first publicised plans to acquire the Jamie’s Italian chain from the receivers of the failed Keystone Group back in November 2016, following Keystone’s collapse in June of that year. The group originally launched Jamie’s Italian in Sydney’s CBD in 2012 before extending the brand interstate.

We’ll keep you updated with further news on the future of Jamie’s Italian as details come to light.