The company behind TV chef Gino D’Acampo’s restaurant empire has been hit with a winding-up petition by the UK tax authority.
Upmarket Hotels and Leisure, which operates five British restaurants named after the former This Morning star, was served the petition by HMRC following a filing made to the High Court.
A winding-up petition is a formal legal process used against a company that owes money and is unable to pay its debts.
It is a common tool deployed by HMRC against businesses that have failed to meet outstanding tax obligations.
The filing threatens to end D’Acampo’s high street presence just over a year after his restaurant business was rescued from collapse.
Upmarket runs four Gino D’Acampo restaurants in Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Leeds, as well as Luciano by Gino D’Acampo on the Strand in London.
The company fell into administration last year before being rescued by an unnamed buyer in a £5m deal that saved all 400 jobs across the business.
The Manchester-based restaurant group was established in 2021 and was previously majority-owned by hospitality entrepreneur Steven Walker and former JD Sports boss Peter Cowgill.
Cowgill, the former JD Sports chairman, was owed more than £2.6m when Upmarket collapsed, according to administrators Begbies Traynor, and still owns more than half of the company according to Companies House filings.
A separate but related entity, Upmarket Leisure, which is controlled by the same directors and registered to the same address, saw its losses widen to nearly £1.5m at the time of its administration, with total debts of almost £6m.
D’Acampo, an Italian chef and television personality, first rose to prominence after appearing on reality show I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here in 2009, later authoring cookbooks and presenting a string of TV programmes.
An HMRC spokesperson said: “We take a supportive approach to dealing with customers who have tax debts and only file winding-up petitions once we’ve exhausted all other options, in order to protect taxpayers’ money.”
Upmarket Hotels and Leisure could not be reached for comment on the latest legal action.