Highlights
- Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant group has cut 10 per cent of workforce as losses reach £13.2m.
- UK hospitality sector lost 69,000 jobs between October 2024 and May 2025, reversing previous growth.
- Industry faces £3.4bn in additional costs from government tax policies and wage increases.
Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant empire has slashed nearly 200 jobs as Britain’s hospitality industry faces its most challenging period since the pandemic.
Ramsay runs 33 restaurants across the UK including the Michelin-starred Petrus and the Lucky Cat brand, saw losses spiral to £13.2million last year. Staff numbers dropped from 1,344 to 1,168, a 10 per cent reduction that marks the biggest cuts since Covid.
He told The Evening Standard his restaurants were adapting to changing customer habits: “The generation now don’t want to talk and order.” His business has been reducing front-of-house staff in casual dining chains to cut costs.
Rising costs squeeze
The job losses reflect a wider crisis gripping the sector. Industry figures show the hospitality sector lost 69,000 jobs between October 2024 and May 2025, according to UKHospitality, the industry’s trade body. This represents a dramatic turnaround from the previous year when the sector created 18,000 new jobs. The most recent Budget added an extra £3.4bn in costs for restaurants, pubs, cafés, and bars, with a survey earlier this year indicating that seven in ten businesses planned to cut staff as a result.
The sector is battling multiple pressures. Government changes have increased employers’ National Insurance contributions from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent.
The human cost is stark, Research by CGA and AlixPartners shows two licensed venues are closing permanently every day. Food-led businesses have been hit hardest, with independent restaurants down nearly 23 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Despite the challenges, Ramsay’s group plans to expand. It is opening a new Bread Street Kitchen in the City of London next year and pursuing franchise opportunities in the United States, Saudi Arabia, and India.
However, prices have risen sharply. A Christmas Day meal at Petrus now costs £325 per person – £35 more than two years ago.
Andy Wenlock, chief executive of Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, told The Telegraph: “While the economic backdrop features some uncertainty and challenge, we are unafraid to be entrepreneurial.”
