Gordon Ramsey restaurants boil down losses
GORDON Ramsey kept sales across his restaurant empire simmering last year after new openings in south London helped to offset the end of his contract at Claridges hotel.
Turnover at the celebrity chef’s 26 restaurants edged down in the year to August 2014 to £44.7m from £44.8m the previous year, according to accounts filed by his holding company, Kavalake.
The group said the performance was “solid” given the recent closure of Ramsey’s restaurant at Claridges and “significant investment in central management costs” made to pave the way for its expansion.
Like-for-like sale rose 5.7 per cent and the group, while Ramsey said his Las Vegas burger joints and London restaurants had enjoyed an “excellent trading performance”.
It also narrowed its operating loss from £5.5m to £1.5m after making an onerous lease provision the previous year on its north London gastropub the York & Albany.
Ramsey, who holds seven michelin stars including three for his flagship restaurant in Chelsea, took over the kitchen at Union Street Cafe in September 2013 followed by London House in Battersea last year.
Since the year-end, the Hell’s Kitchen host has opened five sites in London, Hong Kong and Atlantic City and will open a Bread Street Kitchen in Singapore next month.