Antony Worrall Thompson 'over expanded'

6th April 2009, 11:15am

Antony Worrall Thompson's company took too long to react to the economic downturn after it over-expanded, according to a report by administrators BHG.

In February this year, AWT Restaurants fell into administration resulting in the celebrity chef closing six of the eateries, although he later bought back two of them.

The administrators said in their report that a lack of consumer confidence and a waning appetite for eating out added to AWT's woes.

BHG said that problems began when commodity prices increased particularly on beef, which featured in many dishes across the group.

AWT's cash position continued to disintegrate and the report showed how Lloyds TSB refused an overdraft application for £200,000. The request was rejected because Worrall Thompson would not put his family home against the loan as security.

The report said AWT Restaurants was therefore left with insufficient funds to operate as a normal business.

In this weekend's Telegraph, Worrall Thompson accepted the report's findings and admitted that he did not react quickly enough.

Related Articles:

• 06 Mar 2009 - Can we predict who will survive the crunch?
• 09 Feb 2009 - Bad weekend for celebrity chefs
• 28 Jan 2009 - TV chef shuts Berkshire gastropub due to recession

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