Gordon Ramsay’s Right-Hand Man Has Reportedly Left the Restaurant Group

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s right-hand man, Stuart Gillies, has reportedly left the restaurant group at which he was chief executive since 2016. The chef-turned-director has worked in different roles for Ramsay for over 15 years.

The Caterer reports that the company’s current managing director Andy Wenlock is waiting in the wings and is expected to be promoted to CEO. Gillies had held the position of managing director from 2011 until his promotion in 2016.

According to The Caterer, when contacted yesterday “after several sources reported his departure,” Gillies denied that he was leaving. In the most recent company filings made by Gordon Ramsay Holdings Limited, Gillies — together with with Ramsay himself and John Geoffrey Eades — is named as one of three active directors.

The Gordon Ramsay Group’s international portfolio is now 31-strong. After five years of loss-making, last year the company returned to profit. Gillies credited “changing the company’s business model” and making the group’s restaurants more accessible as the reason behind the upturn.

He told the Financial Times: “Making [eating out] more accessible was the key element: making it [a] less special occasion, and making people actually feel like they could eat out a lot more and enjoy it more regularly as a lifestyle accessory, rather than being a special occasion.”

As well as holding the position of CEO, Gillies was a significant shareholder in the company. In 2015, The Telegraph reported that Ramsay had rewarded him with £2.7m in shares.

Gordon Ramsay Holdings did not immediately respond to Eater London’s request for comment on the reports.

• Stuart Gillies reported to have left the Gordon Ramsay Group [The Caterer]