Ramsay father-in-law’s bid to shut down restaurant empire dismissed by court after debt paid in full

 
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A bid by Gordon Ramsay’s father-in-law to have the chef’s restaurant empire wound up has been brought to a conclusion.

Chris Hutcheson, 63, who was sacked as chief executive of Ramsay’s company two years ago, applied for a winding up petition over an alleged £600,000 debt.  The petition was dismissed last night after lawyers acting for Gordon Ramsay Holdings agreed to pay the sum in full, as well as Hutcheson’s legal costs.

Earlier Mr Hutcheson’s lawyer Ryan Carthew said the “drastic step” had been taken because his client had learned that HMRC has launched a “serious investigation” into Gordon Ramsay’s tax affairs and he was still owed “a significant sum of money”.

Ramsay this year agreed to pay a reported £2 million to his former business partner in settlement of a legal battle between them following the dismissal. The agreed payment was to buy out Mr Hutcheson’s 30 per cent stake.

A source close to Gordon Ramsay said: “The winding up petition was published maliciously and in contravention of the court rules which amounts to an abuse of process. The issue between the parties was never about GRH’s solvency. The court has been satisfied and the petition has now been dismissed.”

The source added: “The HMRC investigation is as a result of an issue which arose under previous management. We are actively and amicably working with HMRC to resolve it.”

Mr Carthew said that HMRC had not been in contact with Mr Hutcheson and that he was “comfortable” with the situation. Mr Carthew added: "The petition was dismissed on an undertaking from GRH to pay the debt in full"

The acrimonious dispute began after Ramsay discovered that the father of his wife Tana had been leading a double life and had two children with a mistress.

The chef subsequently accused Mr Hutcheson of hacking into private emails.

Mr Hutcheson denied the claims and sued his son-in-law for unfair dismissal and unpaid wages.

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