Patisserie Valerie is closing concessions in Debenhams and Next stores following its collapse into administration.
The bakery chain has shut 25 concessions, which it currently operates in Debenhams, Next and motorway service stations.
Retail Week understands that Patisserie Valerie has also stopped supplying the 68 Sainsbury’s stores in which it operated concessions.
Patisserie Valerie’s administrators KPMG said that, in addition to the concessions, it has closed 27 standalone shops, 19 Druckers stores and its bakery in Spitalfields, east London.
As a result of the closures, 920 staff have been made redundant.
Patisserie Valerie’s remaining 122 sites will continue trading while KPMG seeks a buyer for the business.
The chain went into administration yesterday as a “direct result” of an accounting fraud, which produced accounts showing £28m in cash rather than the actual £9.8m in net debt.
KPMG partner and joint administrator David Costley-Wood said: “Since our appointment less than 24 hours ago, we have been pleased with the level of interest we have received in the business and so remain hopeful of achieving a positive outcome.
“In the meantime, we can reassure customers that across the remaining 122 stores it is all but business as usual.”
Sources close to the business told Retail Week the department store chain had “contingency plans in place” to take on the vacant space and move staff to other concessions.
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