Patisserie Valerie opened three new cafés last week in Southport, Dublin and Stevenage.

The Dublin café, which opened to the public last Wednesday, is the chain’s second store in the Republic of Ireland and is found in the Debenhams on Henry Street.

The Stevenage branch is also in a new Debenhams located at the Roaring Meg Retail Park.

The Southport branch is a standalone store on Lord Street.

Afternoon tea is on offer at all three new locations, along with a selection of gâteaux and patisserie as well as tea and coffee. A create-a-cake tool is also available and allows shoppers to create a bespoke cake for special occasions such as birthdays and weddings.

The new stores are part of an expansion plan by Patisserie Valerie, which currently operates over 145 cafés throughout the UK and Ireland. All three locations have created approximately 20 jobs.

“Following the success of our first store in Blanchardstown, Co Dublin, we are excited to be opening our second café in the Republic of Ireland. This is the next step in our expansion plan to open 20 new stores annually,” said Paul May, CEO of Patisserie Holdings.

The new locations take the number of new Patisserie Valerie stores this month to five, after it opened up in Brighton and Winchester at the start of August.