Ramsay group books annual loss

Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant empire swung to a loss last year as the celebrity chef disclosed plans to shut the Maze in London’s Mayfair.

Mr Ramsay’s holding company Kavalake booked a pretax loss of £3.8 million in the year to 31 August 2017, which compares with a £102,000 profit in 2016.

Revenue at the group, which includes the Petrus, Savoy Grill and Bread Street Kitchen brands, came in slightly down 0 Gordon Ramsay is to shut the Maze in London’s Mayfair at £51.4m. Sales were impacted by a five-month closure of Plane Food, the chef’s Heath- row Terminal 5 operation. But turnover at Mr Ramsay’s international arm rose 52 per cent, with the firm to open five new sites this year.

One site includes Hell’s Kitchen, a new concept restaurant in Las Vegas, which opened its doors in January and is performing “ahead of expectations”.

Accounts also show that Mr Ramsay is to shut upmarket Maze in January 2019. The restaurant, in the Marriott Grosvenor Square hotel, will be replaced with a new “concept” restaurant.