Gordon Ramsay Holdings’ chief executive Chris Hutcheson has resigned from his position at the restaurant group.
Hutcheson, the father of Gordon Ramsay’s wife Tana, has left the restaurant group after 12 years although he will remain a shareholder.
The news comes just days after financial results for the group showed GRH to make a 4.2m profit in the 11 months to August 2010, a £2.47m rise on last year.
The profit is thought to have come off the back of the merger of the heavily loss-making Gordon Ramsay Holdings International, which owns all his restaurants opened since September 2007, and Gordon Ramsay Holdings, which encompassed the rest of the chef’s businesses.
Both Ramsay and Hutcheson were forced to pump £5m of their own money into the business in 2008 in order to keep its operations afloat.
"Business as usual"
A spokesperson for the group, said: “We can confirm that Chris Hutcheson has left his position as chief executive of Gordon Ramsay Holdings Ltd. He retains an interest in the business as a shareholder. We would like to thank him for all his efforts and support in helping to build and grow GRH over last 12 years.”
The group, which now operates 12 restaurants and pubs in the UK, with an additional site due to open at One New Change development, will be managed by a temporary team while it searches for a replacement for Hutcheson.
Just last week GRH confirmed that Angela Hartnett, who had been with the company for 15 years, had bought Ramsay's share of Mayfair restaurant Murano and would be parting ways with the group. Her departure follows that of several high-profile chefs from the group, including Jason Atherton, James Durrant, Mark Sargeant and Marcus Wareing.
The spokesperson added that all GRH businesses would continue to operate as normal. No reason was given for Hutcheson's apparently abrupt departure.