UK buyout firm Permira’s culinary woes worsened today after an article by Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine criticised the hospitality business owned by its portfolio company the AA. The article follows reports that Damon Buffini, Permira's managing partner, was so angered by staff complaints of food at a Michelin-star restaurant that he demanded they eat hamburgers as punishment.

This morning, trade magazine Caterer published an article, which interviewed several chefs who claimed the hospitality business' restaurant guide at the AA had gone downhill since the Permira and CVC takeover in 2004. Since 2007, the AA has also been jointly owned by Charterhouse Capital Partners following a merger with travel and insurance company Saga.