Gordon Ramsay's restaurant group reports loss as sales fall

Gordon Ramsay's restaurant group, which includes Savoy Grill and Petrus, has been burnt by weaker sales and plans to close Maze, in Mayfair, London.

Holding group Kavalake reported a loss of £3.8m for the year to August 2017.

While revenues rose at its 18 internationally licensed locations, overall the group's turnover was lower.

Business was also hit by the five-month closure of its Plane Food outlet at Heathrow and an ongoing legal dispute with a partner in Los Angeles.

As well as its high-profile up-market restaurants, the group owns casual dining venues including Bread Street Kitchen, Heddon Street Kitchen, London House and Union Street Cafe.

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The mid-market dining sector has seen a spate of closures this year, including the Byron burger chain and Italian outlets Prezzo and Jamie's Italian, as consumer spending faltered.

Michelin-starred Maze, based in the London Marriott hotel in Grosvenor Square, will close in January 2019 and a new concept will be developed for the site opening later that year.

The group said the 1% fall in total turnover was in large part down to the temporary closure of Plane Food at Terminal 5, Heathrow, which has now re-opened and is performing "ahead of expectation".

The loss, which followed a profit of £102,000 in 2016, was also partly caused by a £1.75m legal bill relating to the business's Los Angeles-based Fat Cow restaurant which closed in 2014.

A long-running legal dispute between Mr Ramsay and his father-in-law was also finally resolved last year.

However, the group is now expanding overseas, opening a further five international venues, including its first outlet in mainland China, a Bread Street Kitchen in Sanya, and a new "concept" restaurant called Hell's Kitchen in Las Vegas.