Speaking to The Sun, the chef revealed that he saw £10m worth of reservations wiped out overnight in December, with total revenue down £57.5m between 19 March 2020 and 3 February 2021.
“Lockdowns have caused utter devastation,” he said, adding that initially he thought the impact of Covid would only last a couple of week.
"It’s been long haul, and so hard to keep youngsters motivated. I feel pressure to give my younger staff, especially, some hope and the sense we can get out of this."
Last week Ramsay called on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to extend the VAT holiday and furlough for struggling hospitality businesses at his Budget in a meeting that led to an outcry from members of the industry who claim the chef is not representative of the struggles being faced by the sector.
He faced significant criticism at the onset of the Covid crisis last March when he made 500 staff across his London's restaurants redundant. However, it is understood that some of those redundancies were subsequently reversed, with the employees placed on furlough instead.
“I get criticised for being wealthy but the responsibility on my shoulders — the livelihoods at stake — is huge," he told The Sun.
"I feel that pressure enormously and the impact of all this has been devastating and incredibly costly.”
Gordon Ramsay Restaurants most recent financial accounts, for the year to 31 August 2019, showed profit before tax was £15.2m.
In addition to the furlough scheme, the accounts stated that the group had negotiated concessions from landlords across the estate; negotiated more flexible payment terms with key creditors; and agreed waivers and secured additional funding from its banks.
It was reported last summer that Ramsay's ambition to 'create a billion-dollar dining proposition' had been undented by the Covid-19 pandemic, with the chef laying out plans to launch 50 new UK sites.
In December he opened three new London restaurants in as many days, with five more reported to currently be in the pipeline.
The chef's 19-strong UK portfolio is concentrated in the capital and includes a number of singular, high-end restaurants such as the three Michelin-starred fine-dining flagship Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea; Petrus in Belgravia; and Lucky Cat in Mayfair.
He operates a further 17 restaurants nationwide across countries including France, China, the UAE and the US.
