Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant empire returns to profit despite tough market conditions

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant empire has returned to profit despite challenging conditions in the casual dining sector.

Ramsay’s company made a pre-tax profit of £500,000 in the year to August 2018 after reporting a £3.8m loss in 2017 due to legal costs and the closure of its Plane Food branch at Heathrow, which lasted five months.

Read more: Around 1,000 jobs lost as Jamie Oliver's restaurant business collapses

The group weathered tough conditions in the restaurant industry, which last week saw the collapse of rival TV chef Jamie Oliver’s business, to post a 4.3 per cent rise in sales to £53.6m, the Press Association reported.

Ramsay, who became a household name through programmes such as Hell’s Kitchen and Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, also outlined plans to expand “bottomless pizza” brand Street Pizza outside London this year.

The company will launch a new venture named Lucky Cat next month, which will replace the Maze restaurant in the London Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square, and has taken 3,000 reservations since 23 May.

“Guests do not just expect a good plate of food, we are relentless with our food quality, that is a given,” Ramsay told the Press Association.

Read more: Top UK restaurant groups fall to £82m loss

“Our guests want to join us for all occasions, be it social or business, and then relax in a great environment.

“We have to understand our guests, what they want, where they are heading and we have to head there with them or be left behind.”