Ramsay winner dropped

The organisers of the Gordon Ramsay Scholar competition have terminated the scholarship awarded to last year's winner of the event because of his unreliable behaviour.

Christopher Bell, who was working as a sous chef at Michael Deane's restaurant in Belfast at the time of the competition, received a cheque for £5,000 and was due to take two stages in New York and Monte Carlo later this year.

But having failed to turn up for another part of his prize - a two-day trip to the factories of competition sponsor Villeroy & Boch in Luxembourg - last week, the benefactors decided to pull the plug. "It's extremely sad," commented Chris Hutcheson, chief executive of Gordon Ramsay Holdings. "But we were in a no-win situation with this."

A spokeswoman for the scholarship said the winner was required to make himself available for his prizes. "Villeroy & Boch had gone to considerable expense and trouble to arrange the trip to Luxembourg. Our sponsors had also set up possible jobs for him and he had not turned up to those either."

Bell, who left his job at Deane's shortly after winning the scholarship in October and moved to London, blamed his failure to take up the trip to Luxembourg on personal problems.

In future the scholarship hopes to safeguard against similar situations by interviewing its regional finalists. "We will also be speaking to their employers," said the spokeswoman.

Bell, who last week left his job as head chef of Cru in London after just one week, said he regretted the loss of the scholarship, but accepted that it was his fault. "Everything has gone wrong for me since I arrived in London. I don't know what direction I am going in," he added.

The college winner of the competition, Mark Ruck, will be going ahead with his stage in Italy in June as planned.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 3 - 9 April 2003