Patisserie Holdings, the owner of Patisserie Valerie, has warned investors that HMRC had filed a petition to wind up the business over £1.14m in unpaid taxes.
The order was served against Stonebeach Ltd, the principal trading subsidiary of Patisserie Holdings, on 14 September. The cafe chain said it had only became aware of the petition today (10 October).
HMRC has set a hearing date of 31 October to seek a court order, which would liquidate the business and its assets.
Patisserie Valerie operates 158 outlets in the UK, including department store concessions, according to its website.
The company today suspended its shares in relation to an investigation into potential accounting irregularities and warned investors of possible fraud.
Chief financial officer Chris Marsh has been suspended while the company investigates.
The business wrote in a trading update: “The company and its advisors are in communication with HMRC with the objective of addressing the petition.
“The company continues to engage with its professional advisers to understand better the financial position of the group and will make further announcements in due course.”
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