Patisserie Valerie chief leaves rival board

THE boss of cafe chain Patisserie Valerie has quit his role on The Restaurant Group’s board as he grapples with the fallout of a massive accounting scandal.

Paul May’s decision to step down as a nonexecutive director at the group which owns Frankie & Benny’s and Garfunkel’s came after a black hole of nearly £40m was discovered at his main business.

The 59-year-old and Luke Johnson, Patisserie Valerie’s chairman and part-owner, are facing questions about how the huge fraud went unnoticed until last week.

They came under fire yesterday for the number of positions they hold at other businesses, with individual shareholders’ group Sharesoc saying it ‘seemed to be far too many’. Johnson, 56, has admitted he was stretched too thin and vowed to scale back his commitments. Cliff Weight, Sharesoc’s director, said: ‘It’s clearly the right decision for Johnson and May to step back from some of their other roles.’

However, he added: ‘For the moment, they are definitely the right people to take charge of the rescue but eventually they should ask themselves whether they should lead the company into its next stage.’

A spokesman for Johnson and May last night declined to comment.

Johnson has taken on several directorships at companies backed by Risk Capital Partners, the private equity firm he cofounded. According to Companies House, the father-of-three is a director of more than 40 firms. As well as being chairman of Patisserie Valerie, he is chairman of London-listed Brighton Pier Group and of private companies Gail’s Bread, Fiery Dragons and Northbank Talent Management.

Firms he is a director of include Elegant Hotels Group, which is listed, Brompton Bicycle, Galliard Group, Green Dragon Hotel Group and Genuine Dining Co.

Johnson was also a regular columnist at the Sunday Times newspaper until last week, when he quit in the wake of the crisis at Patisserie Valerie.

May is listed as a director at 14 firms, which include greyhound racing firm GRA Ltd. He was paid £28,000 for his role as a director at The Restaurant Group in the year to January 1, 2017, according to the most recent annual report.