Patisserie Valerie liquidators sue Grant Thornton for £200m

Patisserie Valerie liquidators FRP Advisory are suing the chain’s former accountancy firm Grant Thornton for £200m for ‘negligent audits’ between 2014 and 2017.

It was revealed in November last year that the joint liquidators had issued a claim for damages. In a recent liquidators’ statement filed with Companies House, FRP said “the reason for the group’s failure was as a result of large accounting misstatements resulting in the group’s management board being unaware that the group had insufficient funds to continue to trade”.

The joint liquidators said at the time: “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 will rigorously defend the claim. Patisserie Valerie is a case that involves sustained and collusive fraud, including widespread deception of the auditors. The claim ignores the board's and management's own failings.

“As the matter is subject to an ongoing FRC investigation and civil claim, we are unable to comment further.”

Patisserie Valerie was sold to Ireland-based Causeway Capital in 2019 after it fell into administration following the discovery of a £94m hole in the chain's accounts.

The Serious Fraud Office is investigating the case. A separate investigation by the Financial Reporting Council is also ongoing into Grant Thornton's audit of Patisserie Valerie's financial statements.