Jamie Oliver buys St Albans pub
Jamie's Italian, the fast-growing restaurant chain spearheaded by Jamie Oliver, is thought to have secured a site in St Albans, Hertfordshire, after acquiring the Bell pub in the town.
The group currently operates 14 sites — in Bath, Brighton, Cambridge, Canary Wharf, Cardiff, Covent Garden, Glasgow, Guildford, Kingston, Leeds, Liverpool, Oxford, Reading and Westfield.
The St Albans property is thought to be going through planning and has met with local opposition, notably from the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), the real ale consumer group.
Jamie's Italian is set to open a further site in part of a former Borders book store at the Bullring in Birmingham in October.
The casual-dining concept, led on a day-to-day basis by Simon Blagden, is also set to open a restaurant in Nottingham's Low Pavement area.
