Gordon Ramsay's legal dispute with father-in-law costs the celebrity chef £6 million

Published: 12:49 EST, 2 June 2012 | Updated: 13:07 EST, 2 June 2012

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Gordon Ramsay’s feud with his father-in-law has cost him at least £6 million.

The celebrity chef was plunged into a legal battle after he accused Chris Hutcheson – who was also his business partner - of hacking into private emails and plundering £1.4million from his restaurant empire to finance his serial womanising.

Hutcheson denied the claims and sued Ramsay – who is married to Chris’ daughter Tana - for unfair dismissal and unpaid wages.

Happier times! Gordon Ramsay shares a drink with father-in-law Chris Hutcheson before a legal dispute between the pair cost the chef £6 million

The row was resolved only when the Michelin starred chef paid a reported £2 million to buy his business partner out of the 30 per cent share he owned of Gordon Ramsay Holdings in February of this year.

However, while the dispute reached a settlement the financial consequences for Ramsay’s company– which was renamed Kavalake Limited following the legal battle – were far reaching.

Papers filed at Companies House show that he paid out reorganisation costs of £2.4 million, wrote off a £1.7 million loan on a gastropub owned by Ramsay and Hutcheson and made a pre-tax loss of £4.4 million up to August 31, 2011.

Counting the cost! Despite settling the legal dispute with his father in law, celebrity chef Ramsay's company took a financial hit

Counting the cost! Despite settling the legal dispute with his father in law, Ramsay's company took a financial hit

Yet, despite the difficulties, sales grew by £4 million to £46 million, leading to a profit of £2.5 million overall.

Gordon said that he is happy with the progress made.

He told the Evening Standard in a statement: ‘The management team and I are committed to developing the group and we are excited that our performance in 2012 is shaping up to be our best to date.’

Stuart Gillies, the group’s managing director added: ‘This period has largely been one of strategic review and consolidation, which although has impacted the bottom line due the exceptional items, means the group is now in an excellent position to move forward.’

After Gordon sacked his father-in-law in October 2010, Hutcheson branded him a celebrity-obsessed 'monster' and accused him of turning Tana against him. Ramsay, in an explosive public letter, revealed that he had employed private detectives to investigate Hutcheson and savaged the 'dictator' father-in-law and 'his very complex life'.

Tana was among the last in her family to learn that for more than three decades Hutcheson had had a second, secret family after fathering two children by his mistress Frances Collins.

Sticking together: Tana Ramsay took her husband's side in his legal dispute with her father

She is one of a string of women with whom Hutcheson allegedly betrayed his wife Greta, by whom he has four children, including Tana.

In December Ramsay was awarded £250,000 costs after a judge ruled that Hutcheson, Tana's sister Orlanda Butland and her brother Adam were liable for breach of confidence after hacking into personal emails and company computers.