The Gordon Ramsay Restaurant Group has applied to Manchester City Council for a premises licence to open a three-floor Lucky Cat restaurant.
The site at 100 King Street was formerly a Jamie’s Italian and HSBC. Ramsay's Lucky Cat brand specialises in Asian-inspired small plates, robata grilled dishes, sushi and sashimi, “inspired by Tokyo's 1930s kissas and Shanghai's drinking dens”.
The only other Lucky Cat currently operating is in London’s Mayfair, which opened in 2019 on the site of Ramsay's former Maze restaurant.
A Worcestershire ramen bar called Lucky Cat Noodle claimed last year that it was forced to change its name to Maneki Ramen following a trademark complaint from Gordon Ramsay Holdings.
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the hospitality sector pushed Gordon Ramsay Restaurants to a £6.8m pre-tax loss last year, according to documents filed with Companies House. However, the business has continued expanding, with a focus on the rollout of its Street Pizza, Street Burger and Bread Street Kitchen brands.
Gordon Ramsay Restaurants operates 35 restaurants across the UK, including London's three-Michelin-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Michelin-starred Petrus, and three restaurants at the Savoy hotel. It also has licence agreements for 13 restaurants around the world.