Hospitality heavyweight resigns from Patisserie Valerie board
James Horler, the chief executive of Ergo Restaurants, has resigned from his position on the board of troubled retailer Patisserie Valerie.
The company said that Horler has stepped down as a non-executive director “with immediate effect in order to focus on his role as chief executive officer at another business”.
Patisserie Holdings said: “The board would like to thank him for his service.”
Horler is a well-known figure in the hospitality industry, having helped set up and develop the Frankie & Benny’s brand in the UK, and as the owner of Spanish restaurant business La Tasca until it was floated on the AIM market in 2005 for £54m and subsequently sold in spring 2007 to R2O for £134m when it had reached 74 trading restaurants across three brands and two continents. Horler left the business once the sale had been completed.
He is now the chief executive of 3Sixty Restaurants which has 16 Ego restaurants and pubs throughout the Midlands and North of England, offering fresh Mediterranean dishes.
Other roles Horler holds include non-executive chairman of Cartwheel Recruitment, a full time permanent management hospitality recruitment business based in London, Nottingham and Milton Keynes, and non-executive chairman of casual dining group Ping Pong Restaurants.
The news of Horler’s resignation comes just hours after Patisserie Valerie’s new management team said “there remains much to do” to catch up on a significant backlog of unpaid invoices.
The retailer nearly collapsed in October after it was found to have significantly overstated how much cash it had.
Several investigations are ongoing to find out when this started, and by whom, as well as understanding how it was not uncovered by the company’s board or auditors.
Shares in Patisserie Valerie have been suspended since October 10 and the group has provided little in the way of public updates in two months, beyond announcing personnel changes and the appointment of RSM UK as its auditors.
Interim chief financial officer Nick Perrin said: “The group recognises its responsibilities to suppliers and is determined to correct the historical position. This is a complex and time-consuming task.
“We are gradually ensuring that overdue payments are made and that terms agreed with suppliers are adhered to, but there remains much to do to complete this task.”
He added: “It was previous management (who have now left the business) who did not publish reports on the group’s payment practices and so I am not able to explain why they did not do so.”
Perrin is part of a new management team which has been brought together since November following the departures of finance director Chris Marsh and chief executive Paul May.
Steve Francis has come in as chief executive and Rhys Iley joined as group commercial director.
The police, the Financial Reporting Council and PwC, on behalf of the company, are continuing to investigate the apparent £40m black hole in Patisserie Valerie’s accounts.
