Jamie’s Italian calls in help following cash flow problems: Jamie Oliver’s Italian restaurant chain has been bailed out by the chef’s parent company, after suffering cash flow problems. AlixPartners has been hired to draw up a turnaround plan for the Jamie’s Italian outlets. Oliver’s restaurant business, mainly composed of the 60-strong chain, received a short-term loan from the Jamie Oliver Group after a further deterioration in trading. It lost £9.9m last year. AlixPartners has been tasked with devising a “cash flow management” plan, according to City sources. A sweeping financial review is expected to look at the chain’s cost base, with industry sources expecting further restaurant closures, reports The Sunday Times. The chain has already retrenched in Britain this year. In January, it announced the closure of six restaurants, affecting about 120 jobs. At the time, the company blamed Brexit-related cost pressures, but industry sources claim the chain has overexpanded, and some of its sites were poorly located. Jamie Oliver Group confirmed AlixPartners appointment, which it said was due to “tough” trading conditions. It said “no decisions have been made” on restaurant closures. The company also confirmed the restaurant business had turned to its parent for cash, with a “short-term company loan”. The problems at Jamie’s Italian come amid mounting pressure in the restaurant sector. A rise in the minimum wage, coupled with rising input costs caused by the drop in sterling, has hit margins. Rapid nationwide expansion by several chains simultaneously has also created stiffer competition. Better burger brand Byron has suffered a slowdown while The Restaurant Group, is midway through a restructuring. The problems at Jamie’s Italian are thought to have precipitated the recent resignation of Simon Blagden, who ran Oliver’s restaurants. The AlixPartners’ review does not cover Oliver’s Fifteen restaurants in London and Cornwall, nor the two Barbecoa sites in London. Jamie Magazine, published by Hearst, closed last month after nine years. His books are still popular. The latest, 5 Ingredients, looks destined to be his most lucrative – topping the British best-seller lists with 440,000 hardback copies sold since its launch.

Itsu to make US debut: Itsu, the healthy Asian food chain created by Pret A Manger co-founder Julian Metcalfe, is to open its first US restaurant early in the new year, in New York’s fashion district. Itsu has more than 70 restaurants in Britain, mostly in London. The Manhattan site will be its first outside the UK, reports The Sunday Times. Metcalfe opened the first outlet in Chelsea, south west London, in 1997. Metcalfe co-founded Pret A Manger in 1986, turning it into a high street staple before selling most of his stake to private equity giant Bridgepoint in 2008. Last year, Itsu’s sales rose by 17% to more than £100m. It plans to open up to ten restaurants next year, mostly outside London.