Administrators appointed to Patisserie Valerie

Birmingham / UK. (kpmg) Blair Nimmo and David Costley-Wood from KPMG LLC have been appointed as joint administrators to Patisserie Holdings PLC on January 22. At the same time, David Costley-Wood and Will Wright have been appointed joint administrators to subsidiaries Patisserie Acquisition Limited, Stonebeach Limited, Philpotts Limited, and Flour Power City Limited.

Patisserie Holdings PLC is a leading café and casual dining group offering cakes, pastries, snacks, meals and hot and cold drinks from over 200 stores across the UK. It operates under five different brands including Patisserie Valerie, Druckers Vienna Patisserie, Philpotts, Baker + Spice and Flour Power City. The company employs in excess of 3000 staff.

The joint administrators will continue to trade 121 stores while they assess options for the business, including exploring the possibility of a sale as a going concern. The administrators have retained the management team under Steve Francis, CEO, to assist with this process.

However, a total of 70 stores and concessions will close, which will regrettably result in a significant number of redundancies. The joint administrators will provide further details regarding those outlets which will be affected by closure in the next 24 hours.

Blair Nimmo, head of restructuring at KPMG and joint administrator, said on January 22: «Our intention is to continue trading across the profitable stores, as collectively, the brands have a strong presence on the high street and have proven very popular with consumers. At the same time, we will be seeking a buyer for the business and are hopeful of a good level of interest. Unfortunately, however, we have had to take the difficult decision to close 70 stores resulting in a significant number of redundancies. We will be working with those affected employees, providing all support and assistance they need.»