Gordon Ramsay is considering floating his restaurant group Gordon Ramsay Holdings on the London Stock Exchange in order to fund the global expansion of his tapas-style restaurant Maze.

Ramsay believes that his Maze restaurant in London’s Mayfair could be turned into a worldwide chain with the correct financial backing, according to an interview in the 2006 edition of restaurant guide Square Meal.

Analysts have predicted that Gordon Ramsay Holdings could be worth up to £50m.

When asked about the possibility of floating Gordon Ramsay Holdings – which includes restaurants Gordon Ramsay at Claridges Hotel and The Connaught – Ramsay told Square Meal: “We’d be very stupid not to think about it. The level of interest we got on the back of publishing our accounts last year was phenomenal, so of course I’m interested in the idea of floating.

“I think there’s real potential with the Maze deformalised eating concept to open a network of restaurants – a chain of baby Mazes – right across the world.

“We’d need heavyweight financial backing to project us to a global brand in that way. I would always keep a majority share in the business, so there’d be no question of the quality or individuality suffering.”

For 2004, Ramsay’s Michelin-starred restaurant portfolio returned a pre-tax profit of £3.8m, following losses of £1.04m in the previous year, with Claridges Hotel alone returning a pre-tax profit of £1.4m. Gordon Ramsay Holdings also includes joint ventures in London with Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley and The Savoy Grill.

Ramsay is scheduled to open two more restaurants in 2006 – a fine dining concept in New York in the summer and a similar restaurant to Maze in Los Angeles a couple of months later. He has also said he would be interested in opening further sites in Chicago, Singapore, Shanghai and possibly a second property in New York. Details: www.gordonramsay.com or www.squaremeal.co.uk