Ramsay's profits 'plummet by 87%'

geoffky

Profits at Gordon Ramsay's UK restaurants fell by 87% in the last year, forcing the chef to inject £3.5m of his own money into the business.
His father-in-law and partner Chris Hutcheson also pumped in £1.5m to help cope with mounting debts and tax bills.
Their woes in the year to August 2008 were blamed on ambitious expansion plans and the closure of key London restaurants like The Savoy Grill.
Ramsay said the company had "learnt some valuable lessons".
The latest accounts showed that in 2007-08 pre-tax profits plummeted £3.05m to £383,325.
At the same time, net debt soared from £4.06m to £9.48m.
'Underperforming'
The closure of two of Ramsay's London restaurants alone accounted for a £9.5m drop in revenue.
The Savoy Grill was shut because of refurbishment of its host hotel, while the Connaught's lease expired.
RAMSAY'S LONDON EMPIRE
Royal Hospital Road
Boxwood
Claridges
Maze
The Narrow
Murano (opened in 2008)
York and Albany (opened in 2008)
Petrus (closed for relocation)
Connaught (now closed)
The Savoy Grill (being refurbished)
La Noisette (now closed)

A third venue, La Noisette, ceased trading in January this year, and was said to have been a "consistently underperforming site".
A full review of Ramsay's company began in December last year as part of a refinancing deal to help it survive the recession.
The cash injection from Ramsay and Mr Hutcheson was needed after the firm accrued a bill of about £8m in VAT, corporation tax and wages.
Ramsay has told how he had to sell his Ferrari to help raise funds, blaming the company's problems on his own over-ambition.
Some 25 staff also lost their jobs as part of the restructuring efforts.
In a statement on Thursday, Ramsay said: "The financial year ending 2008 was tough on our group and all involved, as well as the rest of the economy that faced a spiralling downturn.
"We have regrouped and learnt some valuable lessons and the business has now returned to a position of strength.
"We are back on solid ground and I am very confident that we have a bright and profitable future ahead of us."
Michelin stars
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8131448.stm

1984ReturnsForReal_2

A bit f**ked then.

geoffky

Catering are ALWAYS hit hard in recessions so whats going to happen come next year as it grows far deeper? If i was him i would bail out (if he can) and at least get some money out and retire to the manor.

I respect the guy because what he has built up must of been very very hard work to get to that scale..

amcluesent

Bet there was plenty of 'F'-words to be heard when he saw the accounts!

Looks like he was using the same business plan as Anthea and Grant, only viable in the good times!

Pity Clown as scuppered the whole of England on the same hopeless escapade:mad::mad:

torontoboy45

well, the proof of the eating is in the pud and I've heard some poor reports about the quality of his dishes.
the tv representation of a wayward genius has been entertaining but the reality check means that the nation at large no longer has time (or money) to spend on the ramsay novelty (or at least I hope so).

Generali

The food I ate at The Savoy (many times) and Claridges (once) was excellent with fantastic service. Certainly not just ordinary food tarted up and definitely no packet sauces. Sunday lunch at The Savoy Grill was possibly the best value meal to be had in London as long as you were restrained with the booze. £20 for 3 courses - you'd be lucky to get out of a chain pub for that!

Shame to see he's in financial trouble although it doesn't detract from his excellence. It's a shame that so many people in the UK like to knock others for being successful.

Snooze

mrandmrswilliams wrote: »

He's just a greedy sod. Who needs all those restaurants in the first pllace? Sounds like megomania to me.

He doesn't even cook in them! And I've heard some of his recipes are very ordinary and well overpriced. My friend had xmas lunch there and said it was the worst xmas dinner they'd ever had, hard greasy roast potatoes, soggy cauli, funny tasting beard sauce similar to packet stuff - all he does is teach his chefs how to tart up a meal and make it look fancy.

All that swearinf is very old hat too. Makes him look pathetic, He lies too, he was never the footballer he said he was, and those gay claims of cottaging won't go away.................

Yes, I can imagine it would taste "funny".

Rob

Alan_M_2

Generali wrote: »

Shame to see he's in financial trouble although it doesn't detract from his excellence. It's a shame that so many people in the UK like to knock others for being successful.

I read this attitude daily on this forum and is the reason I visit less frequently.

Bottom line is, Ramsay's businesses still produced a profit of nearly £400k in the most difficult trading period in living memory. That's some feat when long established businesses in all industries are being dragged to their knees.

Also, all comparison to the Bovey BTL empire and operating a buisiness plan that only works in periods of economic growth...well that's naive int he extreme.

Capitalism relies on economic growth to operate, if you know of a business plan that produced profits in recessions and crashes you'll be an extremely wealthy man.

People here are gloating that Ramsay's business is contracting, yey it's likely He's still earning 20 times more annual income than the gloaters......who is actually smiling all the way to the bank?

Heyman_2

To be fair, I don't see too many people here actually gloating about the retraction in his business - and if there is it's more a questioning of the prices you end up paying at his restaurants more than anything else.

As geoffky says, it's fair to expect that any Catering businesses are going to be hit hard in the current climate. He's a successful guy employing a lot of people so it's not really in anyone's interest to see him go under - will just mean a lot more people on the dole.

torontoboy45

no loathing of success or good food.

just a disgust for celeb culture and a foul-mouth who taught my (then 9yr old) daughter the word f*** - and that was before the 9pm watershed.

Generali

Alan_M wrote: »

I read this attitude daily on this forum and is the reason I visit less frequently.

Bottom line is, Ramsay's businesses still produced a profit of nearly £400k in the most difficult trading period in living memory. That's some feat when long established businesses in all industries are being dragged to their knees.

Also, all comparison to the Bovey BTL empire and operating a buisiness plan that only works in periods of economic growth...well that's naive int he extreme.

Capitalism relies on economic growth to operate, if you know of a business plan that produced profits in recessions and crashes you'll be an extremely wealthy man.

People here are gloating that Ramsay's business is contracting, yey it's likely He's still earning 20 times more annual income than the gloaters......who is actually smiling all the way to the bank?

What I think is all the more impressive about Mr Ramsey is that he has acheived success through excellence, not just by serving up more rubbish.