Gordon Ramsay's father-in-law Chris Hutcheson quits

Twitter is buzzing with people wondering what on earth provoked Gordon Ramsay's business mentor and father-in-law Chris Hutcheson to walk out on Gordon Ramsay Holdings last week. 'Everyone wants to know what the Ramsay/Hutcheson story is,' tweeted restaurant guide owner Richard Harden. 'We don't know. We don't know anyone who knows. Nothing beyond surmise. At all.'

The news broke on Monday that Hutcheson, whose daughter Tana is married to Gordon, was leaving the company in which he owned a 31% stake. 'We can confirm that Chris Hutcheson has left his position as CEO of Gordon Ramsay Holdings Ltd,' an official statement read. 'He retains an interest in the business as a shareholder. Interim management will be put in place while the search begins for a full-time replacement. It continues to be business as normal for all GRH operations.’

The business relationship between Ramsay and Hutcheson goes way back to 1998 when Hutcheson invested £1m of his own money, enabling his son-in-law to buy Royal Hospital Road from Pierre Koffmann. Since then he took on the business side of the company's expansion, allowing Gordon to build a growing career as a TV personality. As Hutcheson told the financial news website Bloomberg that he could 'run the business in Gordon’s name..TV is his forte. That’s what he likes doing.'

Well if Hutcheson isn't running the business now - it's worth asking the question 'Who is?'.