Owners of Patisserie Valerie have said it could add a further 150 sites in the UK.
According to British Baker’s sister title M&C Report, Patisserie Holdings chief executive Paul May said the group could eventually operate an estate of more than 200 UK sites. The group consists of Patisserie Valerie alongside retail bakery businesses Druckers and Baker & Spice.
He added that the group would look to open 20 new sites in the current financial year to September 2013, including the company’s first outlet in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as well as an evening offering for Patisserie Valerie.
At the end of November, Patisserie Valerie also announced that, in the last year, it has expanded beyond its London base, with a more than 50% increase in the number of outlets across England and Scotland.
The patisserie business operates more than 90 stores throughout the country, with a further four locations in Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Gloucester and Southend due to open before the end of 2012.
May said: “Despite the current climate of doom and gloom, we have continued to bring investment and job opportunities to the UK’s high streets and encourage the interest of the public, who welcome the new stores.
“If anything, the enthusiasm of the public has taken us by surprise, so we have continued to look for high-quality shopping venues in which to open and continue to grow Patisserie Valerie as a national brand. This has put us in a different marketplace and is why we have been able to gain so many new customers in the last year, continue to provide much-needed jobs and revive the use of empty buildings in UK towns and cities.”
The firm added that it was on track to achieve an annual turnover of £49m this year, an almost £42m growth on its 2007 figure of £7.1m.
Birmingham-based Patisserie Holdings ranked 14th in British Baker’s BB75 list of the top UK bakery businesses based on store count back in March, operating 88 outlets at the time – a 24% increase on the number of total sites it had open in 2011.
No comments yet