Turnaround specialist to lead ‘revival’ of crisis-hit retailer

Steve Francis

The new chief executive of Patisserie Valerie has described the challenge as “an exciting new chapter” as the cafe chain continues to search for a way out of its crisis.

Steve Francis, a turnaround specialist who was most recently the chief executive of pork producer Tulip, has replaced Paul May, who resigned yesterday.

May had been chief executive of Patisserie Valerie for 12 years but despite describing himself as a “micro manager” he appears to have been blindsided by suspected accounting irregularities that created a £40m black hole in its accounts.

Luke Johnson, chairman of Patisserie Valerie, said: “[Steve] has a strong track record of restoring value in turnaround situations, especially in the food industry, and the board looks forward to working with him in the revival of the business.”

More than a month since the problem was found, and with a number of internal and external investigations ongoing, there is little more information in the public domain about its cause and how problems weren’t spotted earlier.

The chain was saved from collapse after Johnson joined forces with investors to plug the firm with cash.

Patisserie Valerie said that, since 2005, Francis has completed four successful operational turnarounds of multi-site, international businesses with revenues ranging from £2bn to £200m.

In his role as CEO of Tulip, he led the rapid return from significant losses, rebuilt the management team and completed a major growth acquisition.

Prior to that, he led the turnaround of Danwood Group as group CEO, restoring the credibility with stakeholders, re-building the management and transforming the profitability of the company.

He has also held turnaround roles at Vion Food Group and Vita Group.

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