Gordon Ramsay Group returned to profit after two year loss making, and has now brought in a procurement team of Brexit negotiators to tackle rising food costs across the company’s restaurants. Previously venues were negotiating on a restaurant-by-restaurant basis and not benefiting from economies of scale, this is set to change.
Filings for the Gordon Ramsay Group with Companies House stated, “As a consequence of the referendum in the summer of 2016 there is a great deal of uncertainty about the future direction of the economy. This will have a number of potential implications including cost pressures due to the inflationary impact of sterling against the euro, recruitment and the general economic climate. In part to mitigate the inflationary impact a procurement team has been recruited to manage the supply chain.’
The company has returned to profit due to in part to a focus on restructuring and international expansion. It recorded a profit of £739k in the year to last August, compared with losses of £2m and £6m respectively in the previous two years. Sales last year rose 3.2% to £52m, helped by a 24% rise in international revenues to £3.6m.
The price of food is rising at its fastest in more than three years, the British Retail Consortium reported in April. Food inflation hit 1% year-on-year in March, the sharpest rise since February 2014 and marking the second month in a row of rising prices.