Chef Jamie takes a £1m pay cut

Jamie Oliver and his wife Jules have taken a £1.1 million pay cut after a drop in profits from the chef's business empire.

Last year, the couple paid themselves a dividend of £900,000 from his main company, Sweet As Candy Holdings, compared with £2.05 million in 2005.

The Olivers, both 32, are the sole shareholders in the business, which handles the royalties and income from the TV chef 's books, merchandising and Sainsbury's adverts.

Accounts filed at Companies House this week reveal that pretax profits fell almost a quarter, from £7.5 million to £5.7 million in the year to the end of December.

As well as the dividend, Oliver received a salary and benefits package of £360,504, slightly up on the previous year's £335,503.

A spokesman for the chef said the main reason for the profits fall was a decision to funnel £2.5 million of royalties from his bestselling book Cook With Jamie to his charity restaurant venture Fifteen, which trains disadvantaged chefs at four branches in London, Cornwall, Amsterdam and Melbourne. The book features 175 recipes aimed at teaching basic culinary skills.

If this income had not been moved, the company's profits would have actually been slightly higher, added the spokesman.

Overall, the accounts show "Jamie Oliver plc" to be a successful money-spinner, second only to Gordon Ramsay's restaurant empire among Britain's celebrity chefs.

Like the Scot, the Essex-born former Naked Chef is rarely off TV. This week, Sainsbury's launched its Christmas adverts featuring Oliver with "little helpers" in a food workshop resembling Santa's toy factory.

It is Oliver's seventh consecutive Christmas as "the face" of Sainsbury's, making it one of the longest-running celebrity endorsements, with more than 100 adverts. The £1.2 million-a-year-contract is up for renewal in April but looks certain to continue until 2009.

The chef also makes money from his invention, the "flavour shaker" - a £20 kitchen utensil designed to mix herbs, spices, garlic and oil into marinades.

A separate company, Fresh One, handles his TV productions, such as Channel 4's Jamie At Home.

Profits at Fresh One fell last year from £227,000 to £95,000 but are expected to be much higher this year because of the success of Jamie At Home, which is aired in 14 countries.

Oliver also made his big-screen debut when he provided the voice for a grumpy restaurant inspector in the cartoon movie Ratatouille, released last month.

His next venture is a chain of restaurants called Jamie's Italian serving "affordable" dishes from £5.

The first of 40 branches is due to open in Bath in the spring followed by Cambridge and Brighton. The chain will be funded by Oliver and outside investors.