Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has today lost his high court fight to be removed as personal guarantor of the lease for one of his London restaurants.
Ramsay had claimed that his signature was added to the document by a “ghost writer” – a wet ink signature machine intended to reproduce his autograph on merchandising material – during a widespread fraud carried out by his father-in-law Christopher Hutcheson.
However, judge Justice Morgan today dismissed his claim for a declaration that he is not bound by the personal guarantee in respect of the lease for the York & Albany restaurant near Regents Park, NW1.
The judge found that when Hutcheson committed Ramsay to the guarantee, he was acting within the “wide general authority conferred on him” at all times until his dismissal in October 2010.
He said: “Mr Ramsay may now regret the transaction in relation to the premises. He may particularly regret his involvement as a guarantor. He may consider that Mr Hutcheson did a bad deal. However, on my findings, he is not able to say that Mr Hutcheson exceeded his authority in any respect.
“I hold that Mr Ramsay, acting through his agent Mr Hutcheson, is bound by the guarantee in the lease of the premises.”
Ramsay had argued that he did not sign the lease and did not authorise anyone to sign it on his behalf.
Ramsay’s prior claim against Hutcheson, over a fraud said to have cost Ramsay and the Gordon Ramsay Group hundreds of thousands of pounds, was settled on confidential terms, with this matter thought to be the last remaining aspect to be dealt with.
Landlord of the premises Gary Love claimed that Hutcheson was authorised to use the ghost writer machine either expressly, or as part of his general authority to manage Ramsay’s business in his former role as director and chief executive of group companies.
The judge found that the machine was used “extensively” from 2007 until 2010 to place Ramsay’s signature on legal documents, and concluded that the chef knew this was the case.
He said that Ramsay had been cross-examined about use of the ghost writer to place his signature on books sold in bookshops, and gave evidence that he did not know this was happening and thought it was only used to sign books not being sold in bookshops.
On this point, the judge said: “I found his evidence entirely implausible.”
He added: “I find that Mr Ramsay knew, long before the entry into the agreement for lease and the lease of the premises, that the machine was routinely used to place his signature on legal documents. I do not accept his evidence to the contrary.”
Ramsay was refused permission to appeal, and ordered to pay Love’s costs, with an interim amount of £250,000 due within 28 days. Love is claiming a total of almost £550,000 plus VAT, but the final sum will be calculated later.
In his decision, the judge said that, under the terms of the lease, the personal guarantee could be removed by putting up two years’ rent, amounting to £1.28m.
