Building repairs costing £770,000 are being carried out at the former Jamie's Italian restaurant.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver launched his Italian restaurant chain from the city in 2008 but in 2019 it closed after the chain went into administration.

The Jamie's Italian on the corner of George Street and Gloucester Street was the chain's first one and the chef visited on numerous occasions over the years.

READ AGAIN: Will The Real Greek move in at former Jamie's Italian

Soon after it closed in 2019, The Real Greek, which has restaurants across London, announced plans to move in but since then the unit has remained empty.

The company revealed its plans for the unit in a licence application to landlords the city council.

Oxford Mail:

The council confirmed repairs are under way at the former restaurant, with the funding agreed by council leaders last year.

Cabinet members agreed a budget of £770,000 to spend on 2-4 Gloucester Street & 24-26 George Street from the existing budget assigned for Condition Survey works.

Scaffolding now surrounds the building and a contractor working on site said: "We are repairing the building - the roof is leaking."

City council spokesman Tony Ecclestone said a prospective tenant had made an offer to take on the building.

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He said: "We can’t confirm the tenant as this is commercially sensitive. We can however confirm it is under offer."

Owned by the Fulham-Shore group which also owns Franco Manca, The Real Greek already runs many popular restaurants, mostly in London, with other branches in Reading and Bristol.

The firm says the food it serves 'comes from the delicious and healthy diet of the Eastern Mediterranean', mostly Hellenic classics such as flat breads, houmous, taramasalata and moussaka.

A manager at The Real Greek branch in Reading Oracle told the Oxford Mail last year the chain was about to open a branch in Newcastle but had no information about plans to move into 24-26 George Street.

Oxford Mail:

Before Jamie's Italian opened, the building was occupied by the Cock & Camel pub and the unit next to the pub was occupied by Avid Records, which closed in 2008.

There are plenty of other options for Italian food in the George Street area, including Bbuona pizza bar in Gloucester Green, and Bella Italia, Zizzi, Franco Manca and Ask in George Street.

Jamie Oliver told the Oxford Mail how he took a £2m gamble to open the George Street branch in 2008.

But in 2017 he blamed a combination of rising Brexit cost pressures and tough trading when he shut six restaurants.

As well as staff costs and lower footfall, the business was hit by the collapse in the pound, which ramped up the cost of buying ingredients from Italy.

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This story was written by Andy Ffrench, he joined the team more than 20 years ago and now covers community news across Oxfordshire.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Andy.ffrench@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter @OxMailAndyF