Three Yorkshire branches of Patisserie Valerie close immediately

Three Patisserie Valerie branches have closed with immediate effect across Yorkshire after the firm was plunged into administration.

Cafes in Bradford, Doncaster and Leeds St Pauls Street were closed yesterday, with a sign on doors from administrators KPMG. Around 90 branches across the country were closed, including concessions in Debenhams stores.  

The Birmingham-headquartered cafe chain has been fighting for its survival since October, when it first revealed accounting irregularities that cast serious doubt over its viability.

Last week the company said it had found “thousands of false entries” on the company’s ledgers, which was part of a “very significant manipulation of the balance sheet and profit and loss accounts”.

Earlier this week it was announced that it had been unable to agree a deal with its lenders, Barclays and HSBC, to extend a standstill of its facilities which had been put in place in the immediate aftermath of the revelations and that expired last Friday.

Around 900 people across the UK will be made redundant, with another 2,000 other jobs under threat, in the wake of a “significant fraud” that threatens to end the company’s 93-year history.

KPMG was appointed as administrators of the Patisserie Holdings and its subsidiaries. The group operates stores under several brands, including the historic Birmingham name Druckers Vienna Patisserie.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the company said: “Patisserie Holdings plc announces today that, as a direct result of the significant fraud referred to in previous announcements, it has been unable to renew its bank facilities, and therefore regrettably the business does not have sufficient funding to meet its liabilities as they fall due.”