Patisserie Valerie winding-up order dismissed at High Court

Patisserie Valerie has staved off another threat to its existence, less than two weeks after it was forced to raise emergency funding to stay afloat.

The chain’s parent company Patisserie Holdings announced on Wednesday a winding-up order issued against it by the taxman was dismissed in court.

The petition was issued by HMRC against the company’s principal trading subsidiary, Stonebeach Limited, over an unpaid tax bill of more than £1 million.

But the High Court of Justice, Business and Property Courts dismissed the claim on Tuesday.

The revelation of the unpaid bill in early October coincided with the discovery of a black hole in Patisserie’s accounts, over which it suspended finance director Chris Marsh.

Mr Marsh was later arrested on suspicion of fraud.

Chairman Luke Johnson pledged £20 million in loans to keep the company trading and shareholders raised another £15 million.

Accountants from PricewaterhouseCoopers are now investigating the accounting irregularities at the business.

The company also said on Wednesday it would investigate why grant of share options to Mr Marsh and chief executive Paul May were not disclosed in its financial statements.

This comes after press speculation highlighted Mr May and Mr Marsh sold two tranches of shares each in 2018 but the 2017 financial report only shows one grant of long-term incentive plan (LTIP) options, which dates back to 2014.

Patisserie issued a clarification of the status of current LTIP awards, showing both men were granted options in 2014, 2015, and 2016.

The options granted in 2014 and 2015 were sold in February and July 2018 respectively.

Those granted in 2016 remain unvested but are now considered unlikely to become exercisable.

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