Page 5 - Patisserie Valerie Teaching Note

OVERVIEW

The first Patisserie Valerie store was opened in the Soho

district of London in 1926 by a Belgian woman, Madame

Valerie. It grew as part of a chain with 206 stores which
employed some 3,000 people.

Its swift expansion took place after Luke Johnson bought

into Patisserie Valerie in 2006 when it had eight stores.

Johnson grew the business and in 2014, it was listed on the

AIM stock market for small companies.

The collapse of Patisserie Holdings is set against the

background of the launch of the Business, Energy and

Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee’ s inquiry examining the

future of audit in November 2018.

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However, the 10 October 2018 saw the firm announce that
its board had become aware of an HMRC winding-up

petition against its principal subsidiary Stonebeach, with the

tax body seeking a payment of £1.14m. It also discovered

the frightening level of fraud in its accounts and suspended

its Chief Financial Officer, Chris Marsh. The result was that

Patisserie Holdings plc could no longer be considered a

going concern. It needed a capital injection which Johnson
provided. However, the rapidity of its subsequent demise

was breath taking. As Johnson commented the fall of his

firm was "horribly rapid".