Jamie Oliver’s restaurant, Fifteen, situated in east London and the subject of Channel 4’s Jamie’s Kitchen series, has made its first profit.

Every six months, Oliver gives 15 unemployed young people the unique opportunity to learn every aspect of how to cook as staff in the Fifteen kitchen and eventually fully qualify as chefs – if they last the distance. The first group of 15 were the subject of the initial documentary tv series, while eight of those are now qualified chefs.

The Fifteen restaurant and his charity Cheeky Chops, which helps teach the young unemployed how to cook, were both launched by Oliver because he wanted to give something back to the food industry. Although he personally invested £2m, Fifteen was still £1.2m over budget when it opened in 2002.

Speaking about Fifteen, Jamie Oliver said: “This is the first month we’ve had profit, which is really exciting. After months of breaking even, and months with getting things nicked, and other months losing money, we’ve finally made profit. We still have to pay off the money it cost to set up the restaurant but it does mean we are on track and we know where we are.” Details: www.jamieoliver.com