Gordon Ramsay made £11.9m profit after working for free last year
GORDON Ramsay's restaurant group made a huge £11.9million profit last year - but the TV chef has been working for free.
The 53-year-old didn’t take a director’s dividend or salary, despite Gordon Ramsay Restaurants Ltd boasting a turnover of £54.7 million, according to the group's latest accounts.
The group operates Gordon's eponymous three-Michelin-starred restaurant as well as his one-Michelin-star Petrus eatery.
Other restaurants under its wing include the Savoy Grill and Gordon Ramsay Plane Food at Heathrow Terminal 5 as well as 10 others.
And the celebrity chef is now looking at expanding his business empire by opening 200 restaurants in North America, Canada and the Caribbean, a further 200 in Asia, and 50 sites in the UK over the next five years.
For the second year in a row, Gordon took no directors' dividend, and only fellow company director and group CEO Andy Wenlock, was paid a wage (£417,000), according to the accounts.
Gordon has pumped in just short of £7.4 million of his own money into the business, which is a "director’s loan, owing from the company".
He’s also "given personal guarantees totalling £5 million in respect of the Group’s banking facility”.
While the fiery cook may not be taking a slice of his company’s profits, he’s still making tens of millions with his personal companies, which look after his TV career and image rights.
Last year, his restaurant chains, which include Bread St Kitchen and Maze, were much loved by Brits, who spent nearly £1 million a week eating his food, with the annual turnover in this country of £49.3 million.
While his rival Jamie Oliver’s restaurant chain went into administration last year, the Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares host is planning on global domination.
He’s also signed a £15.5 million license deal with Lion Capital LLP - a British private equity firm who have owned Jimmy Choo, Weetabix, Wagamama and Kettle Chips - to jointly develop Gordon Ramsay-branded restaurants in the US.