TAXMAN LOSES HIS DOUGH

Cake chain 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 a winding-up order issued against it by the taxman had been dismissed in court. The petition was issued by HMRC against the company’s principal trading subsidiary, Stonebeach Limited, over an unpaid tax bill of just over £1million.

The revelation of the unpaid bill earlier this month coincided with the discovery of a black hole in Patisserie’s accounts, over which the company suspended its finance director Chris Marsh.

Marsh was later arrested on suspicion of fraud.

PricewaterhouseCoopers is now investigating the accounting irregularities at the business.

The company also said it would be investigating why grants of share options to Marsh and chief executive Paul May were not disclosed to investors in its financial statements.