Stuart Gillies hits back at ‘macho Gordon Ramsay' female chefs claim
Stuart Gillies, the newly-promoted chief executive of the Gordon Ramsay Group, has hit back at recent news that female chefs are put off professional kitchens by a "macho Gordon Ramsay culture".
Gillies (pictured) wrote to the Evening Standardcovered in The Caterer here â' which suggested that just one in seven chefs in top kitchens is female.
The article also suggested that female chefs make an average of £4,000 less per year than their male counterparts, and added that a "macho Gordon Ramsay culture" could be to blame for the lack of female chefs in high-end kitchens.
In his letter, published on 11 March, Gillies said: "We strongly object to such an inflammatory statement as it is completely at odds with our practices and the culture at Gordon Ramsay Group. We employ 55 women in the kitchens across our 14-strong portfolio of London restaurants. A number of our senior chefs are female, as well as some who head up our international operations. Additionally, nearly half of our executive team are women."
Responding to the suggestion that there is still a substantial pay gap, he said: "All employees are paid a fair wage and there is no difference in salary between the genders in the same positions. There is no 'macho Gordon Ramsay culture' here."
The Gordon Ramsay Group includes the three-Michelin-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, the Savoy Grill, Maze, Pétrus, the Heddon Street Kitchen and Bread Street Kitchen in London, and also operates sites in France, Italy, Singapore, Qatar, the US and the UAE.
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