Patisserie Valerie to close Glasgow and Dundee cafes after business impacted by coronavirus pandemic

Patisserie Valerie has announced it will close two Scottish cafes as part of nationwide closures in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Bosses said the business did not recover “as well as expected” following the pandemic and said it has “faced a period of unprecedented challenges in recent times”.

Nine cafes across the UK will now close as a result, following a review of the company’s store estate.

Patisserie Valerie stores in Dundee and Glasgow Central train station will close, alongside three in Belfast in Donegal Square, Castle Lane and Forestside.

The Victoria Station cafe in London as well as sites in Windsor, Eastbourne and Exeter will also close as part of the plans.

“We have decided to close nine patisseries as we now do not feel they will recover sufficiently” amid further cost pressures, the company said.

The group added that its VP Retail Limited subsidiary will cease to trade following the closures.

Patisserie Valerie is being advised over the process by accountancy firm James Cowper Kreston and it stressed that the closures will not impact the rest of its operations.

Chief executive James Fleming said: “Whilst closing stores is never an easy decision to take, we are confident this is the right thing to do to ensure the group is in a stronger position to continue investing and delivering the high quality experience our customers rightly expect in these challenging times.”

The company would not comment on the potential impact of the closures to jobs at the sites.