Profits mushroom for the Carluccios

PROFITS are booming at Carluccio's, the restaurant and delicatessen chain founded by TV chef and food writer Antonio Carluccio.

Latest accounts show a 55% jump in annual profits to £2.3m. Turnover rose 40% to £27.8m. Carluccio said the outlook was so bright that the company planned to pay a dividend of 6.5p.

This would mean a £66,000 payout for the largest shareholder, Carluccio's wife, Priscilla. She is in charge of the firm's marketing and design.

Carluccio's began life in 1991 as an Italian delicatessen in Covent Garden, central London. Eight years later, the first Carluccio's Caffe restaurant was opened in Market Place, near Oxford Circus. The company now has 20 restaurants in Greater London.

Chairman Stephen Gee said: 'Our store portfolio achieves an average return on capital investment in the second year of more than 60%.'

The company employs about 600 staff, all of whom receive Italian lessons as well as training in Italian cuisine. Carluccio, 67, has written six food books.