More buyers for failed cafes

A TRENDY London coffee chain has bought four Baker & Spice outlets from Patisserie Valerie administrators for £2.5m.

Department of Coffee and Social Affairs bought the cafe sites in Belgravia, Chelsea, Maida Vale and in Selfridges on Oxford Street, saving 68 jobs. Another store in Oxford will be closed, leading to ten redundancies.

Department of Coffee and Social Affairs was founded in 2010 and has 14 sites across London and one each in Bristol and Manchester. It also has three cafes in Chicago. Matthew Gill, the deputy chairman, said: ‘We’re very excited to now own Baker & Spice.’