Gordon Ramsay hands over control of Hollywood restaurant

Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH) has stepped back from the day-to-day involvement in its Michelin-starred restaurant at the London West Hollywood hotel in Los Angeles.

The move, which was predicted by Caterersearch last month, comes just weeks after the company handed over control of its Maze Prague outlet to the owners of the Hilton Prague Old Town.

It is expected that other global restaurants could follow suit including Florida and Paris.

The 110-seat Los Angeles restaurant, which opened last June, has been sold to the owner of The London West Hollywood hotel, LXR Luxury Resorts. The change to the business relationship sees the running of the food and beverage operation pass to the hotel management with GRH offering consultancy on menu planning.

A spokeswoman for the hotel said: "Gordon Ramsay and his team will concentrate on menu development and service standards throughout all the hotel's culinary outlets while the day-to-day food and beverage operation will be handled by hotel management."

GRH last week submitted its accounts for the financial year to 31 August 2007. Filed eight months late, the statement revealed that the group is in the process of renegotiating the terms of its facilities with its bankers after it breached its banking covenants.

However, GRH did not specify what covenants were breached, neither did it clarify whether it breached the covenants in the financial year reported (2007) or whether the breaches are ongoing.

GRH's turnover increased £3.5m to £41.6m in 2007, with operating profit up £2.3m to £3.3m.

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By Kerstin Kühn

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