Heat on Ramsay over firm's unfiled books
Gordon Ramsay is facing the threat of an embarrassing court battle for failing to file records detailing the performance of his upmarket gastronomic restaurants.
Heat is on: Gordon Ramsays may face court over unfiled accounts
The celebrity chef's Gordon Ramsay Holdings has persistently flouted obligations to file year-end accounts for both 2006 and 2007 forcing government officials into extreme action after months of wrangling.
The 2006 accounts should have been submitted by spring last year and the 2007 accounts are four months overdue.
Britain's most famous chef is reported to have been issued with a final warning last month and is said to have missed a deadline set for last Friday to produce paperwork.
Government officials are gea
Being dragged through the courts would be a major embarrassment for Ramsay and will do nothing to calm fears over the health of his collection of famous-named eateries.
Ramsay's empire has been expanding at a phenomenal rate. It is behind London hotel Claridge's signature restaurant and upmarket Petrus, where bankers once spent £44,000 on a dinner for six.
On top of that he has written cookery books, has four TV reality shows, and slapped his name of everything from griddles to gin.
Having left school with two O-levels, he has made no secret of the fact he hates figures.
The business is run by his father-inlaw Chris Hutcheson, who has a stake of around 31%, with Ramsay holding the remainder.
The last set of accounts Ramsay managed to file were for the year ended August 2005 and even these were published late, arriving at Companies House, the government department charged with recording such data, in March last year.
A spokesman for Companies House said: 'The company has been advised to file their latest overdue accounts as required by law.
'We are in the latter stages of correspondence. If no satisfactory resolution is achieved this case will, therefore, proceed to prosecution.'
He would not confirm whether that stage had now been reached.
A spokesman for Gordon Ramsay Holdings maintained the business was not in any financial difficulties and denied speculation it was behind on its rent to the Maybourne Hotel group - landlord to Ramsay's Connaught, Berkeley and Claridge's restaurants.
A spokesman for GRH said: 'The accounts will be filed on Wednesday or Thursday this week. GRH have been in touch with Companies House to inform them of progress, they are not intending to prosecute.'
Any business that misses the deadline for filing its accounts is automatically fined, according to Companies House. And persistent offenders risk having their companies struck off.
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