After nearly 100 years of trading, Patisserie Valerie has collapsed into administration after it was unable to extend its bank facilities due to 'significant fraud' in the company's past accounts.
The crisis started last year after accounting irregularities left the luxury bakers with a tax bill of more than £1m, a winding-up order and a £20m deficit in it's accounts. The irregularities had led to the company significantly overstating its cash position for years. Earlier this month, Patisserie Valerie admitted that forensic accountants had revealed that 'the misstatement of the accounts was extensive' involving very significant manipulation of the balance sheet and profit and loss accounts. Amongst other manipulations this included thousands of false entries into the company's ledgers.
Industry experts agree that the late discovery of the fraud is 'categoric proof that it's management information was simply not good enough'
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