Following accusations made against Paul Hunt by sources in The Times saying that Jamie Oliver's CEO and brother-in-law was 'an arrogant, incompetent failure', Oliver has posted a response on his Facebook and Twitter profiles.
The sources also said, 'He knows virtually nothing about restaurants and even less about publishing...the day he resigns the staff should have a big party.', and he that he has a 'problem' working with strong women. Also, sources said that Hunt's presence had left some workers looking for alternative employment.
Jamie Oliver stated, 'There has been some negative press coverage with so-called friends of mine saying nasty, untrue things about Paul Hunt, who is the CEO of my business.
'First, let me say that the story is nonsense and I absolutely refute the picture they paint of Paul and my business.
'I've known Paul for years both as a loyal brother-in-law and loving father as well as a strong and capable CEO who I charged with re-shaping the business.
'He has radically transformed our business for the better it's now more successful, vibrant and creative than ever and now we able to focus on doing the same in our UK restaurant business.
'I'm incredibly grateful for what's been achieved in a fairly short time.'
Hunt was put in charge of Jamie Oliver Ltd in 2014, and was made a director of the Jamie's Italian chain within months. The chain closed nearly half of its restaurants in January after it lost £9.9m last year, having made a profit of £2.4m a year earlier.