A celebrity-backed Knightsbridge club is looking for a new home after a rent dispute between its founder and chef Gordon Ramsay.
M1NT, founded by former investment banker Alistair Paton, opened early last year at 164 Sloane Street where Gordon Ramsay Holdings is landlord.
On Sunday, following demands for tens of thousands of pounds in unpaid rent, Gordon Ramsay Holdings entered the club and changed the locks.
Paton, a 28 year old Australian, claims he refused to pay rent for four months because of the “disgusting” treatment he had received.
“Gordon Ramsay hasn’t given us air-conditioning and heating for 20 months and no hot water for eight months,” he said.
The problems appear to have stemmed from a disagreement over a clause in the lease for the building, where services are provided centrally.
Paton said shareholders and members, who include comedian Steve Coogan, had remained loyal. He now plans to sue Gordon Ramsay Holdings for damages and loss of trade valued at £500,000.
A source at Gordon Ramsay Holdings denied Paton’s claims and said he had been given “repeated warnings – verbal and written – about the arrears”.
The company, whose chief executive is Ramsay’s father-in-law Christopher Hutcheson, said in a statement: “On Sunday 9 July a peaceable re-entry took place at M1NT… as a result of rent and services arrears.”
References: EGi News 11/07/06
