Patisserie Valerie liquidators hit auditor with lawsuit

The joint liquidators of Patisserie Valerie have issued a claim for damages against accountancy firm Grant Thornton over ‘negligent audits’.

Grant Thornton audited Patisserie Valerie's accounts for 12 years and has been under scrutiny since the discovery of a £94m hole in the chain's accounts in January 2019.

Restructuring firm FRP Advisory has been working with Patisserie Valerie to investigate whether it can persue legal claims against Grant Thornton, which failed to identify suspected wrongdoing with its accounts.

A spokesperson for the joint liquidators said: “We can confirm that the joint liquidators of companies within the Patisserie Valerie Group have issued a claim for damages against Grant Thornton in respect of their negligent audits of the group companies' financial statements for the financial periods 30 September 2014 to September 2017 inclusive. We will not be commenting further at this time.”

A spokesperson for Grant Thornton UK said: “We are aware that a claim has been filed, but it has not been served. We will however, be rigorously defending the claim once we receive it.”

A separate investigation by the Financial Reporting Council is also ongoing into Grant Thornton's audit of Patisserie Valerie's financial statements.

The brand was sold to Ireland-based Causeway Capital last year after the group fell into administration.