Gordon Ramsay’s Shaky RBS Loan Subject To Presumably Profanity-Laced “Discussions”

Gordon Ramsay, the chef with a Norwegian coastal landscape for a face, has had his controversy levels bolstered by the news that he can’t seem to get his finances together, and that he may actually be crap at football.

Ramsay’s accounts were filed eight months late, suggesting that there’s some kind of ongoing wrangling with their creditors. They dodged a bullet by refinancing a loan from Icelandic bank Kaupthing back in May before the crisis hit, going through RBS to get an overdraft and loan facility worth £10.5m. Now the notes to their late filing show they’re having some secret cosy chats about the loan – though they’re not giving details, it could be that they’ve missed the first payment, or are still discussing terms of the loan itself. But they’re insisting that they’re financially A-OK, and the “should be able to operate within the level of its current facility”.

The statements make it look like Ramsay’s assets are in a strong position – pre-tax profit was up from £816,000 the year before to £3.05m in the annual period up to August 2007. Yeah, well, Damian Hirst was selling diamond encrusted skulls in the same period – the world was still wadded back then, but not so much anymore. His current ongoing wranglings show that the only kitchen nightmare Gordon’s having is in his own! Eh? Eh?

His week has also been tainted by the news that he may never have played for Rangers’ first team after all; or in the words of Fox News, “Gordon Ramsay’s Soccer Career Is a Bunch of Baloney, Report Says”. Ramsay, who is always attempting to chalk up man-points by playing in celebrity footy matches and “casually” mentioning his sporting past, said that he played three first team matches for the club, but actually it looks like he just did a mediocre job in a testimonial match, and that’s about it. ”Any inaccuracies regarding the details of this period can be explained by the fact that all this occurred nearly 25 years ago”, said Ramsay – come on, I think if you’d be groomed as a schoolboy for Rangers stardom, you might just remember whether you actually played for them in proper matches or not.

Still, good on Gordon for showing the world that we don’t just eat tripe slathered in some thick generic sauce – he’s bagged another two Michelin stars for his first French restaurant, bringing his total to 12. Predictably, the French critics have been sniffy, with Jean-Claude Ribaut at Le Monde merely describing him as “very media-friendly” rather than comment on his food. Francois Simon of Le Figaro deployed a bewildering barrage of damning with faint praise, saying the two stars ”place the stereotypical cooking of a knowledgable Briton – not bad, but old hat – on a par with the dishes of auteurs such as Jean-Luc Rabanel at Arles”; Simon has previously described Ramsey’s offerings as “Xerox food”. You got served!

And I don’t envy Ramsay the experience of having his father-in-law as co-director of his company – bet that was fun after the adultery came to light…

Posted by Ben Beaumont-Thomas in Hot Money | March 5, 2009 11:53AM |