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 & Leisure, which operates five British restaurants named after the former This Morning star, was served the petition by HMRC following a filing submitted to the High Court, as seen by City AM.

A winding-up petition is a formal legal proceeding brought against a company that owes money and is unable to meet its debt obligations. HMRC routinely uses this mechanism to pursue companies that have failed to settle outstanding tax bills. Once a petition is advertised in the London Gazette, banks routinely freeze the company's accounts, making day-to-day operations difficult even before a court hears the case.

The filing threatens to end D'Acampo's high street presence just over a year after his restaurant business was rescued from collapse. The petition also arrives against a backdrop of sustained pressure across the UK's casual dining sector, where operators have grappled with food cost inflation, elevated energy bills, and rising wage costs in the post-pandemic period, contributing to a wave of insolvencies and restructuring across the industry.

Upmarket operates four Gino D'Acampo restaurants — located in Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, and Leeds — along with Luciano by Gino D'Acampo on the Strand in London.

The company entered administration last year before being acquired by an unnamed buyer in a £5m deal. The transaction preserved all 400 jobs within the firm.

The Manchester-based restaurant operator was established in 2021 and was previously majority-owned by hospitality entrepreneur Steven Walker and former JD Sports executive Peter Cowgill.

Debts of Nearly £6m

Cowgill, the former JD Sports chairman, was owed more than £2.6m when Upmarket collapsed, according to administrators Begbies Traynor. Companies House filings indicate that Cowgill continues to own more than half of the company.

D'Acampo, an Italian chef and television personality, rose to prominence after appearing on the reality show I'm a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here in 2009. He subsequently authored multiple cookbooks, presented numerous television programmes, and became a regular guest on This Morning.

Upmarket Leisure, registered as a separate company but 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 approaching £6m.

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 & Leisure could not be reached for comment.