Patisserie Holdings has appointed former Starbucks boss Ryhs Iley as its commercial director.

The move is the latest in a string of hires for the business, which almost collapsed in October after a £20m black hole was discovered in its finances.

The crisis, which was averted through a share offer and loans from chairman Luke Johnson, saw the departure of CEO Paul May and finance chief Chris Marsh. May has been replaced by Stephen Francis, former CEO of pork producer Tulip Ltd, while Nick Perrin, formerly at AIM-listed veterinary services provider CVS, has been appointed interim chief financial officer.

The company has now brought in Iley to run its commercial operations.

He formerly ran Starbucks Europe, which had revenues of £1.2bn, and ran Starbucks UK before that. Iley also has wide retail experience in the UK at Boots, where he ran its Irish operation, and through store management and buying at Marks & Spencer. His advisory roles including the British Retail Consortium strategy board.

Patisserie Holdings has also appointed former Tulip MD José Peralta as director of food production and supply.

Described by the company as “one of the most experienced and respected fresh food manufacturing leaders in the UK industry”, Peralta has 25 years of MD-level experience running large own-label meat businesses. He has supplied retailers including Tesco, M&S, Sainsbury’s and Co-op.