Ormer ends relationship with top TV chef

Monday 20 November 2017

St Helier’s Ormer restaurant says it has dropped Michelin-starred chef Shaun Rankin, ending its commercial relationship with him.

The news comes after four years at the Don Street-based establishment, which he launched following a career at the helm of Bohemia. Another branch of Ormer was launched in Mayfair, London in 2016.

Express spoke briefly to Mr Rankin this morning - he denied he had been removed from Ormer, and said he would be issuing further comment later. 

But in an official statement issued this morning, Ormer's owners said that Mr Rankin had been removed from the Board of Directors, and that they were also terminating their commercial relationship with him, both for Ormer and for all of the firms subsidiaries: "It is time to move forward with a refocused vision for Ormer and Shaun Rankin does not form part of our plans for the future.  We will be concentrating on enhancing our presence in Jersey and selectively adding to our restaurants in the UK, starting with an exciting new venture in Liverpool." 

There are no planned changes to the current team, and Head Chef Lee Smith will continue to lead the staff in the kitchen. 

Pictured: Head Chef Lee Smith will remain in his current role.

The statement doesn't explain why Mr Rankin's relationship with Ormer is being terminated - Ormer declined to provide any further comment at this stage. 

The Ormer announcement says that Mr Rankin has been removed as a Director of business, but does not refer to his shareholding in it. But the phrase explaining that Mr Rankin, "does not form part of our plans for the future," suggest that is also under threat. 

Though British born, Mr Rankin’s connection with Jersey spans nearly 25 years. He began his island-based career in 1994 when he started work at five-star hotel Longueville Manor where he would stay for eight years. 

He later presided over the opening of Michelin star-winning Bohemia in St Helier, before opening his own personal foodie venture in 2013, when he opened Ormer in Don Street. Ormer since gave rise to the adjoining Don Street Deli, and an Ormer branch in Mayfair, London in 2016. 

Pictured: Mr Rankin's removal from the Ormer Board brings a four-year relationship to an end.

The St Helier branch has been awarded numerous accolades, but was most recently crowned ‘Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year’ at the Jersey Style Awards.

The chef has also appeared in numerous TV programmes – most recently, on MasterChef, in which he welcomed contestants into the Ormer Mayfair kitchen, where they were challenged to cook every item on the restaurant’s lunchtime menu by themselves.