TV chef Gino D'Acampo 'unable to pay former staff and taxman' after £5million losses from My Pasta Bar chain

Celebrity chef and TV personality Gino D'Acampo has reportedly been unable to pay £5million to his former staff and the taxman after liquidating his failed pasta chain.

The Italian cook, aged 47, who is best known for his food-focused TV shows and cookbooks, wound up his business earlier this week - two years after it first went into liquiation. Inspiration for the 'My Pasta Bar' restaurant chain was said to be taken from 'Gino's own experience of the fresh food markets of Naples', while it also contained his 'own breakfast rotolini pastries, authentic antipasti, salads, pastries, speciality breads and Italian desserts'. But, it seemingly wasn't paying.

Previous accounts said that 49 creditors were not paid. £4.8million is owed to trade creditors, while £113,975 to HMRC and £53,304 to staff, The Mirror reports. In a final account to creditors and members, the company said: 'Overall, I can confirm that the realisations in the liquidation are insufficient to declare a dividend to the unsecured creditors after defraying the expenses of the proceedings.' 

It comes two years after D'Acampo's 'My Pasta Bar' chain, which opened in 2012, went under after ten years in business. It lost hundreds of thousands year-on-year until it reached breaking point. All three of the 'My Pasta Bars' were located in London. The first opened in Fleet Street, followed by Leadenhall Market and Bishopsgate.

In 2022, it was reported that the 'This Morning' chef's chain owed HMRC £113,000 and another £37,000 in staff wages after all three restuarants were forced to close.  Last year liquidators questioned the firm over alleged missing company books and the conduct of its major stakeholders after the chain of Italian restaurants went bust with £5million in debts.

The £150,000 investigation was launched into why IRG (Old) WWR - formerly Gino D'Acampo Worldwide Restaurants Ltd - ended up owing millions after being declared solvent the year before. 

His separate restaurant chain, named 'Gino D'Acampo My Restaurants,, which haswh venues in Birmingham, Manchester, Harrogate, Leeds, Liverpool and Hull, was unaffected. It did, however, have to be rescued with a £12.9 million bailout by co-investors including Iceland bosses Mr Walker and Mr Dhaliwal. 

D'Acampo has previously claimed the Covid-19 pandemic was the reason for My Pasta Bar's closure. He said: "We tried it for ten years and then Covid came around and I thought, 'You know what? We have to close.', as reported by the MailOnline.

The chef, who has also appeared on reality TV shows and was previously crowned the King of the Jungle on ITV's 'I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!', is understood to earn around £2 million annually from television work.