Talking exclusively to Restaurant magazine editor William Drew at the opening of his latest restaurant Bread Street Kitchen, Ramsay explains his decision to consolidate the business and focus on consultancy roles rather than operating leases at locations across the globe.
In the interview, which appears in this month's Restaurant magazine, Ramsay says he relishes his new-found business freedom following the departure of GRH's former chief executive and his father-in-law Chris Hutcheson.
“There were some internal wrangles, some issues to sort in Holdings, clearly,” he says, "We had to clean up our act. Now we have created a level of uncomplicated determination to push forward with what we want."
Bread Street Kitchen
The interview also takes a look at the team behind Bread Street Kitchen, which opened at One New Change in the city of London last week.
With menus devised by Ramsay and GRH managing director Stuart Gillies, the mid-range restaurant is the first to open under the group since the launch of The Savoy Grill last October.
Ramsay said research for the restaurant, which he'd planned to open last year had been done all over the globe.
"We checked out the latest brasseries on [Boulevard] St Germain; Polpo; Hawksmoor; The River Café. We wanted to get a feel for what’s happening. The climate’s changed. You move with it or it moves you,"he adds.
For the full Ramsay interview, an in-depth look at the emerging burger chains, a feature on staff meals and more, see the October edition of Restaurant magazine, out tomorrow.
The magazine is available in newsagents or you can subscribe here.