Gordon Ramsay has successfully marinated his profile with a number of reality TV projects including Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares and the F-Word. These shows, together with his Michelin-littered restaurant empire, have enabled him to build up a multi-million pound commercial property portfolio.
Hell, nightmare and F-words are drizzled all over Ramsay’s current reality show, a feud starring himself and father-in-law and former business partner Chris Matheson.
The pair built up Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH) over twelve years until last November, when Ramsay sacked Matheson following allegations of financial impropriety. He then sent a blistering letter, outlining his reasons, to Matheson’s wife. This letter happened to be cc’ed to the national media.
Now the battleground between the two has moved into commercial property with the news that Matheson has placed The Warrington, a West London gastro pub and part of the GRH empire, up for sale at £5.5m – 300k higher than the price paid in 2008.
GRH’s stock of commercial property has dwindled after several high-profile closures, among them the flagship Hollywood restaurant on Sunset Strip. In 2008, three restaurants ceased trading within six months of each other.
Last June The Devonshire, a gastro pub in Chiswick, ceased trading, GRH citing its location “at the wrong end of the street” as a factor.
The credit crunch has hit the sector hard – this week Punch Taverns announced plans to reduce its commercial property holdings by selling 2,600 of its leased pubs.
So far there have been no bids for The Warrington. According to a spokesman for GRH, “if there was it would have to be brought to us to say yes or no.”
“Previously owned by a celebrity” is a phrase that can boost resale value – in 2005 Ramsay’s friend David Beckham sold his BMW M3 for £90k, £60k above the price of a new one.
Whether that mark-up translates to celebrity pre-owned commercial property remains to be seen.
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