Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant group cut 300 staff last year as losses grew

Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant group lost £6.8 million last year and shed 300 staff as the impact of Covid lockdowns caused his culinary empire to suffer.

The celebrity chef’s businesses saw pre-tax losses increase by £1.8 million in the year to August 2021, up from £5 million the previous year, as restaurant closures and social restrictions affected the group for the second year running.

Its latest filings, released this week, show that the business shed about 300 employees in the same period.

They were mainly restaurant staff, but the company also lost almost a quarter of its head office workers.

The business warned that further challenges are ahead, with inflation putting pressure on consumer spending and supply chain issues pushing up commodity prices.

The restaurant group could suffer significantly reduced sales and diminished margins, similar to the 20% drop in sales seen over the Omicron period between November and February, according to its worst-case scenario.

But it could cut costs in order to avoid big losses, the group added.

Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant empire grew in 2021 with the opening of Street Pizza and Street Burger restaurants in London locations including Battersea, Islington and Covent Garden.

Mr Ramsay now owns or has a stake in 35 businesses in the UK and has new restaurants opening internationally including in Saudi Arabia, Doha and Kuala Lumpur.

Despite heavy losses, the company’s best-paid director was given a total pay package of £327,000 for the year.

It was a big cut from the £493,000 handed out a year earlier.