Gordon Ramsay's empire appears to feeling the impact of the credit crunch, with suppliers taking the celebrity chef to court three times this month over unpaid debts.
The worldly Briton and his umbrella company have been served with court judgments for more than $10,000 as he trims down his 25-restaurant empire, according to reports in Britain.
GMAC Commercial Finance Ltd is demanding payment of $5,578 from Ramsay's Maze restaurant and $2,201 from Gordon Ramsay Holdings.
Italian food supplier Machiavelli Ltd is also chasing $2,285 unpaid accounts from the company, the Daily Mail reports.
Revelations of the outstanding accounts comes after Ramsay’s decision to sell his first foothold in the French cuisine market — Gordon Ramsay au Trianon — back to the Trianon Palace Hotel.
Despite harsh criticism in the French press, including the branding of "boring" and "pompous" in Le Figaro, the restaurant within the Versailles establishment was awarded two Michelin stars earlier this month.
Ramsay also recently sold his Prague restaurant and closed La Noisette at London’s Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel.
But a spokesperson for Gordon Ramsay Holdings denied any financial difficulties within the company and dismissed speculation Ramsay was plotting to put his company into administration and buy back its most lucrative assets.
"The company has a very strong infrastructure and has been doing well since the period covered by the last set of accounts," the spokesperson was quoted as saying in Britain's Sunday Telegraph.
Ramsay, 42, is estimated to be worth $128 million and it was recently revealed he had paid himself $15.9 million in wages over the last five years.
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