Turnham Green Terrace Café Closes

Notice from administrators posted on front door of Patisserie Valerie

The branch of Patisserie Valerie café on Turnham Green has closed with a notice from the administrators posted on the front door this Wednesday morning (23 January).

The notice give details of who to contact if you are making a deliver or have an order to collect.

On Monday Patisserie Holdings plc had issued a statement saying that they were in discussions with their banks about future training but this Tuesday it was announced that they were going into administration which they said was the direct result of the ‘significant fraud’ discovered in the company last year. It is being reported that the administrators are closing 70 of the branches and keeping 121 operating in the hope of finding a buyer. There is no confirmation at this stage that the closure of the Chiswick branch is permanent.

Luke Johnson, a major shareholder in the company, is providing short term cash support of £3million to allow staff to be paid through January.

The branch in Chiswick is on the former site of Maison Blanc and was acquired as part of a competitive bidding process for the companies 13 branches when it ceased trading in 2017.

The company’s finance director was arrested after a black hole was discovered in the accounts last October. Luke Johnson, who is chairman of Patisserie Valerie and its largest shareholder with a 37% stake, pledged to inject up to £20 million to keep the chain's parent company, Patisserie Holdings, from being wound-up due to unpaid tax.

The company's suspended finance chief Chris Marsh was arrested after the company admitted it had uncovered "significant, and potentially fraudulent, accounting irregularities".

The black hole in the company's finances is reported to be as much as £20 million. Mr Marsh had been the finance director at Fishworks PLC another failed restaurant chain that had premises on Turnham Green Terrace.

The first Patisserie Valerie café was opened on Soho's Frith Street in 1926 by Belgian-born Madame Valerie. It was destroyed in World War II and a new site opened at nearby Old Compton Street.

Now it has 206 cafes across the country, employing around 2,000 staff.

January 23, 2019