Michelin-starred restaurateur aims to negotiate lower prices as cost of imported ingredients spirals due to weak pound

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has drafted in a specialist team of Brexit negotiators to tackle rising food costs at his restaurant empire.

The Michelin-starred restaurateur, who runs some of Britain’s top dining destinations including London’s Savoy Grill and Petrus, is concerned about the fastest rise in food prices in three years.

Accounts filed at Companies House for the chef’s subsidiary company, Gordon Ramsay Holdings, sets out urgent action taken by the chain to cap food costs. It has recruited a buying team to negotiate cheaper prices across the group as the cost of imported ingredients spirals because of weak sterling.

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It also blamed concerns over recruiting staff on Brexit and is worried about uncertainty over the economy.

In the accounts, for the 12 months to the end of August 2016, the firm warns: “As a consequence of the referendum in the summer of 2016 there is a great deal of uncertainty about the future direction of the economy.

“This will have a number of potential implications including cost pressures due to the inflationary impact of sterling against the euro, recruitment and the general economic climate.

“In part to mitigate the inflationary impact a procurement team has been recruited to manage the supply chain.”

The small group of buyers will haggle with suppliers to drive down the cost of ingredients across the group’s chain of 31 restaurants. Previously venues were negotiating on a restaurant-by-restaurant basis and not benefiting from economies of scale.

A spokesperson for Ramsay said the arrival of the new buying team was aimed at preventing prices from rising for customers.

“The business model is aimed at avoiding regular and reactionary price changes to customers [to avoid] passing on inflationary and currency pressures,” she said. “For example, the biggest currency exposure is on buying wine so we are working on our supply chain in order to mitigate the impact of fluctuations in sterling. This includes sourcing wines from around the world and using purchasing power better.”

Restaurants have been suffering from increased food prices, along with households up and down the country.

The British Retail Consortium said food prices rose 1% over the past 12 months to March – the fastest rise in 3 years. Separately Kantar Worldpanel reported the price of everyday goods rose by 2.3% in the 12 weeks to 26 March. The pound has fallen 13% against the dollar since the Brexit vote.

Despite the added pressures Gordon Ramsay Group managed to bounce back to profit for the first time in two years thanks to restructuring and international expansion.

Last week the firm posted earnings of £739,000, up from a £2m loss on sales of £51.9m.

On Wednesday Chris Hutcheson, Ramsay’s father-in-law, who used to run the chain before a public falling out, was sentenced to six months in jail for hacking into the group’s computer system.