Richard Hammond's TV Garage Faces £700k Debt, Business Partner Turns to Lawyer for Help

RICHARD Hammond’s garage business is stuttering with debts of more than £700,000, we can reveal.

has pumped almost £600,000 of his own cash into the sinking business.

Richard Hammond’s former business partner Neil GreenhouseCredit: Facebook The ex-Top Gear host has pumped almost £600,000 of his own cash into the sinking businessCredit: Getty The Smallest Cog car restoration garage in Hereford is a vehicle for his satellite TV show Richard Hammond’s WorkshopCredit: Jon Rowley

The Smallest Cog car restoration garage in Hereford is a vehicle for his satellite TV show Richard Hammond’s Workshop.

Its team chrome plated Jeremy Clarkson’s vintage tractor which is now hanging in his pub, The Farmer’s Dog in the Cotswolds.

But the latest figures show Hammond’s garage lost £140,000 last year – the equivalent of £2,700-a-week.

After company assets are taken into account, including £50,000 cash in the bank, the firm is £550,000 in the red.

Hammond, who split from his wife of 23 years Mindy in January last year, was approached for comment.

We revealed yesterday how Hammond’s business partner Neil Greenhouse on social media after they fell out after their firm ran up huge debts.

Veteran mechanic Neil was so worried about the money their company owed he even sought legal advice.

He also complained they spent all their time filming and not fixing cars.

Multi-millionaire Hammond, 56, nicknamed Hamster, said the garage had gone through changes since Greenhouse quit.

He said: “We’ve made some changes since; the place is much tidier and the tea bag bill has gone down.

“We’ve restructured the business and it is, finally, starting to work.

“Our new workforce joins me in being determined to take The Smallest Cog forward as a company and make it bigger and better, producing wonderful work on beautiful cars.”

This comes after fans were shocked by footage of Neil burning his company’s overalls after their firm ran up a £400k debt, The Sun revealed.

The former host is said to have imposed impossible and “stressful” deadlines on him to meet demands for his hit TV show.

The latest figures show Hammond’s garage lost £140,000 last year – the equivalent of £2,700-a-weekCredit: Discovery+ Its team chrome plated Jeremy Clarkson’s vintage tractor which is now hanging in his pub, The Farmer’s Dog in the CotswoldsCredit: PA A video circulated of Neil burning his overalls over the debt rowCredit: Instagram

The pair set up the Smallest Cog garage in Hereford which became the hub for the pint-sized presenter’s highly successful Discovery+ show Richard Hammond’s Workshop.

Speaking from his home in Grafton, near Hereford, Neil said: “It takes a lot of time and skill to restore a classic car in the right way, but we were constantly under pressure to meet television company deadlines.

“I found it very stressful. Now I’m working on my own and much happier.”

Neil, who is currently restoring a 1980s silver 535 in a large workshop next to his house, said he found it frustrating watching The Smallest Cog’s debts mount up without having any say in how the company was run.

He added: “Richard had total control of the company and although I had a 20 per cent stake in it, I was not involved in managing it.

“I never had any control over how it was run.”

Neil, whose son still works with Hammond at the workshop, said: “My lawyer told me that because I was a shareholder but not a director I bore no responsibility for the debts.

“I wouldn’t have been happy if I did.

“It is sad it has come to this, but I am much happier being left alone to do my own thing.

“I think there was an opportunity for The Smallest Cog to be a really nice business, and profitable too, but the television deadlines simply made it impossible.

“When you have to rush a car because of a filming deadline you cannot really do the job you want to do.

“There simply is not enough time.

“Richard has lots of problems at the moment and I do not want to add to them.”

The pair started the workshop together in 2021 and it has featured in videos on Drivetribe, the channel founded by , and Hammond.

According to documents on , Hammond took “significant control” of the Smallest Cog shortly before Greenhouse made his views publicly known last month.

Neil, 62, uploaded a video to his page which showed a pile of clothing branded with the Smallest Cog on fire.

The mechanic received support for his actions from people on social media, with one commenting: “Richard’s not at the bottom of that pile is he?”

Another asked “I think you are meant to return a uniform when you leave a place of work, not set fire to it”.

Neil previously operated a garage and body repair business for 26 years at the Tram Inn near Allensmore, Herefordshire, where Hammond used to get his fixed.

But his company faced closure and he went into business with Hammond.

Hammond described in a YouTube video how Neil told him he was losing the workshop and he replied: “I can’t just employ you to work on my cars.

“There is no dignity for a mechanic in working for some tart off the TV.

“Let’s set up another business, I will bankroll us into it, I will set up a workshop and then you can spend half the time covering the overheads and the rest of the time doing my cars, that was the plan.

“Being an idiot I thought that might make a good TV show, Discovery agreed and we made it into a TV show.”

The blurb on his Discovery+ show states: “Richard Hammond trades his jet-setting lifestyle for a long-standing dream to set up a classic car restoration workshop close to his home in Herefordshire.

“With the help of skilled craftsmen, he navigates the ups, and downs of building a new business.”

Neil owned a 20 per cent share in the company, while his son Anthony owned five per cent, and Hammond owned the majority 75 per cent.

The pair started the workshop together in 2021Credit: Instagram Multi-millionaire Hammond said the garage had gone through changes since Greenhouse quitCredit: Getty Neil owned a 20 per cent share in the company, while his son Anthony owned five per cent, and Hammond owned the majority 75 per centCredit: Instagram