Ramsay split leads to a lot of questions

Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Morecambe and Wise, Ant and Dec - famous partnerships have been with us for an eternity, but while these pairings will go down in comedy history, we don't have to look far in our own industry to find formidable duos.

Take Coulson and Sack, Corbin and King, Gunewardena and Loewi and, of course, our friends in the North, Bancroft and Haworth, who have run their burgeoning empire for an impressive 27 years.

But arguably the most powerful partnership of recent years is Ramsay and Hutcheson. Since 1998, when they opened Gordon Ramsay in London's Royal Hospital Road, Gordon Ramsay and Chris Hutcheson have created one of the highest-profiled hospitality partnerships in Britain, if not the world. Ramsay had the passion, the love for the industry, the raw talent and the dream to follow in the footsteps of many of his mentors. Hutcheson had the business acumen, the entrepreneurial vision and the unsentimental approach.

So when news filtered through - just as Caterer went to press this week - that Hutcheson had resigned from Gordon Ramsay Holdings, the industry went into overdrive. What had brought about this decision? Where would this take the business now, a week after Angela Hartnett announced her departure? Would Ramsay be able to trust another chief executive? Would we see more of him in London as a result? No doubt all these things will come to the fore over the next few days as Team Ramsay decides its next move. We'll be sure to keep you informed.

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Amanda Afiya, Web Editor, Caterersearch.com