Gordon Ramsay’s £5m Covid nightmare: Celebrity chef’s company suffers huge loss as lockdowns hit his restaurant chain

Gordon Ramsay’s company plunged to a £5.1 million loss last year because of Covid lockdowns.

The celebrity chef’s restaurants were forced to close their doors for months on end, as well as facing social distancing restrictions.

Restaurants, which he launched in 1997, has 25 sites in the UK and another 11 restaurants worldwide in locations such as Las Vegas and Versailles.

Gordon Ramsay’s company plunged to a £5.1 million loss last year because of Covid lockdowns. He is pictured above with daughter Megan.

The group racked up the bruising loss on turnover of £34.5 million in the year to August 2020, according to Companies House. It had made a profit of £6.6 million the previous year on revenues of £55 million.

Earlier this year, Ramsay, 54, revealed he expects the fall in sales at his restaurants during the pandemic to reach nearly £60 million.

He said: ‘The last 12 months have been the most difficult of my 28-year career. Every business has let go of staff, every business has had to tighten their belts to get through this. It’s more than emotion, it’s my life.’

The group racked up the bruising loss on turnover of £34.5 million in the year to August 2020, according to Companies House.

But the group said it was still intent on expanding and had opened 12 new restaurants since lockdowns lifted in April.

A spokesman said the company ‘has not allowed the pandemic to derail its ambitious growth strategy at home and abroad’.

Ramsay is due to launch The River Restaurant at London’s Savoy Hotel this month.

The celebrity chef’s restaurants were forced to close their doors for months on end, as well as facing social distancing restrictions.