Patisserie Holdings' Baker & Spice sold for £2.5m

Patisserie Holdings has completed the sale of its Baker & Spice subsidiary to the Department of Coffee & Social Affairs for £2.5m.

The sale of four sites to the independent coffee shop chain was completed last night following on from the sale of Patisserie Valerie to Irish-based Causeway Capital Partners for £13m and its 21 Philpotts stores to retail, wholesale and distribution company AF Blakemore & Son earlier the same day.

The sale includes four sites in London in Belgravia, Chelsea, Maida Vale and in Selfridges on Oxford Street, with 68 jobs saved. However, the Baker & Spice store in Oxford did not fall under the transaction and will close with immediate effect, with the loss of 10 jobs.

Dave Costley-Wood, partner at KPMG and joint administrator, said: "Following the earlier sales today of Patisserie Valerie and Philpotts, we are pleased to conclude this deal which sees the highly-regarded London Baker & Spice stores transfer to Department of Coffee and Social Affairs."

Matthew Gill, deputy chairman, Department of Coffee and Social Affairs, said: "We're very excited to now own Baker and Spice, it's a tremendous brand and the team are looking to build upon its success."

Patisserie Holdings fell into administration last month after rescue talks with banks failed, resulting in the closure of 71 stores and 920 redundancies. The collapse followed the discovery of "significant, and potentially fraudulent, accounting irregularities" in October 2018.

The deal sees 2,000 jobs and Patisserie Valerie's remaining 96 branches saved, with chief executive Steve Francis set to continue to lead the business.

The company is provisionally scheduled for cancellation as a limited company with effect from 7am on 25 February.

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