Thousands of jobs at risk as Patisserie Valerie collapses into administration
Troubled cafe chain Patisserie Valerie has collapsed into administration after the failure of rescue talks with banks.
Administrators KPMG will close 70 outlets immediately, while the remaining 121 will continue trading in the hope of finding a buyer.
KPMG said there would be "significant" redundancies.
In October last year the company uncovered 'significant and potentially fraudulent accounting irregularities.'
In a statement, the company said in it did not have enough money to meet its debts.
The High Street chain, established in 1926, had been locked in talks with lenders, including HSBC and Barclays.
But a statement to the stock exchange today revealed that it was unable to renew its bank facilities as a result of the fraud that emerged last year and had appointed administrators.