Page 5 - Patisserie Valerie Teaching Note
P. 5
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".