Cost cutting has helped Gordon Ramsay Holdings post a pre-tax profit of £2.05m for the year to 31 August 2010, up from £567,000 in the previous 12 months, according to accounts filed at Companies House.
The company, which is led by high-profile chef Gordon Ramsay, embarked on a number of cost cutting initiatives during the period, including a reduction in staff numbers and cutting its salary bill from £11m to £9.3m.
The group also sold Murano, its Italian restaurant in Mayfair, to Angela Hartnett for £2.5m. It also wound down operations at Boxwood Café in Knightsbridge during the year and made no new openings.
However, sales from continuing operations fell by 19% to £24.7m and total sales by 12.7% to £27m, as consumers stayed away from the chef’s eponymous restaurant at Claridge’s and reduced their spending at his Maze site.
GRH reported a 6.3% drop in diners at Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s and despite attracting 5% more diners spend per head fell at Maze and Maze Grill, resulting in an overall fall in turnover.
The company said that despite a reduction in turnover in the year at its gastropub the Narrow, the successful management of overheads had resulted in per-tax profit increasing by 37.1% on the previous year.
The group said that its flagship three Michelin-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay continued to perform strongly, increasing spend per heard on 2009.
The high-profile chef’s other company Gordon Ramsay Holdings International, which covers his restaurants opened since 2007, such as Foxtrot Oscar, saw losses narrow from £8.3m in 2009, to £1.85m last year.
The combined figures for both companies mean that the overall accounts for Ramsay’s portfolio showed profit of £200,000 for the 12 months, against a loss of £7.7m in 2009.
However, during the year Ramsay was forced to personally provide an unsecured interest free loan of £7.4m to fund expansion.
In December 2010, the company acquired the Petrus restaurant in the capital from former chief executive Chris Hutcheson, who was dismissed from the along with further senior managers in the final quarter of the year. Neither Ramsay nor Hutcheson drew salaries during the year.
The group said that significant legal and professional costs have been and are likely to be incurred in the coming year to “resolve the many issues that have subsequently risen as a result”.
In the accounts filed at Companies House, GRH said: “The group has performed robustly despite the enduring weaknesses in the broader economy which continue to impact negatively on consumer confidence. Despite the challenging conditions for the hospitality industry the group is expected to produce a robust trading performance in the coming year that will be aided by the acquisition of Petrus.”
