Gordon Ramsay: The Empire Implodes?

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Super Chef wondered in yesterday's article (see Marco Pierre White: The Chopping Block) why NBC is taking a chance on Marco Pierre White. Perhaps the answer lies within the current expansion and business problems of Marco's one time protégé, Gordon Ramsay's. Is one British chef heading for a disaster, giving another room to expand? The Telegraph's Andrew Pierce outlines Gordon's recent financial struggles, which come on the heals of Antony Worrall Thompson (See Antony Worrall Thompson: Closes Four Restaurants). Pierce writes: The long-awaited accounts for trading in 2007 were finally submitted this week, eight months late. The headline figure showed profits had tripled to £3 million. Ramsay appears to have granted himself a pay rise, taking his salary from £845,630 to £1,117,819. The accounts also showed that Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH) is in breach of its banking covenants – promises made to lenders to secure a loan – and owes its suppliers about £5 million. The sheer size of the unpaid bills is reminiscent of Tom Aikens, the Michelin-starred chef, after the companies that ran his restaurants went into administration. Some 160 suppliers, many of them small businesses, found themselves at the end of a queue of creditors. Pierce reports that Gordon's restaurants are cutting back on lunch and are not commanding the long waits for tables they once did. There was also an advertisement listing two of his restaurants for sale that was quickly withdrawn. The article doesn't draw any firm conclusions, but speculates that Gordon Ramsay's empire is teetering. All this comes on the heels of news reports of an extra-marital affair. Surprisingly given the economic climate, Gordon is also expanding in South Africa, Australia, and Florida. Much like other celebrity chefs, Ramsay feeds his machine that is a mixture of talented, ambitious chefs and mounting debt, with more openings and more media deals. Super Chef suspects that The Telegraph and other newspapers will be busy with reporting on the demise of many restaurant empires. More then one celebrity chef is guilty of spreading him/herself too thin, and banking on their celebrity status alone to fill seats: A year ago he was master of all he surveyed but now the cracks are appearing in Ramsay's empire. Ramsay, who spends far more time in television studios than he does in the kitchens where he earned his 14 Michelin stars, has ignored the advice he gives on his TV shows: "When you start spreading yourself too thinly, you can fail to meet the same standards the second or third time round." Previous articles: Marco Pierre White: The Chopping Block From Gordon Ramsay to Mark Sullivan's Spruce Gordon Ramsay: Child Obesity Gordon Ramsay: Reality Lawsuit Will Beckham Spice Ramsay With Puck? Marco Pierre White: The Devil in the Kitchen Gordon Ramsay: Find Me a Fanny Gordon Ramsay: Say No to Celebrity! Gordon Ramsay v James Bond Gordon Ramsay: Women Can't Cook Gordon Ramsay: A Chef For All Seasons Gordon Ramsay: In the Heat of the Kitchen Gordon Ramsay on Jay Leno: Funnier than Hell Hell's Kitchen on ICE Sneak Peak: Hell's Kitchen, with Gordon Ramsay Gordon Ramsay Joins Richard Branson in Fox's Reality TV Hell Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, cookbooks, cookbook reviews, Gordon Ramsay --> back to Super Chef