Nearly a thousand staff are expected to lose their job on Wednesday as 70 Patisserie Valerie stores will shut.
The café chain collapsed into administration last night and KPMG has been appointed to try and find a buyer for all or parts of the company.
In total, more than 3000 jobs are at risk across the business, which has around 200 stores and a string of concessions, including in department store chain Debenhams and grocer Sainsbury’s.
Some concessionaires are understood to be trying to move staff to new roles where possible.
Intu is the most exposed of the listed landlords to Patisserie Valerie’s collapse as the malls owner and its rivals faced the prospect of a number of shops becoming vacant.
Intu leases 11 sites to Patisserie Valerie, although its rental income exposure is just 0.2%, and Hammerson has six branches in its properties. Other landlords that let space to Patisserie Valerie include LandSec (3), British Land (3) and NewRiver (1).
The owners of Patisserie Valerie could be sued by investors over the sudden collapse of the business, which left them out of pocket.
Chris Boxall, investor and co-founder of Fundamental Asset Management, today said he was considering legal action as he has a “moral duty” to his clients.
