Sites that will close are Belfast Donegal Square, Belfast Castle Lane, Belfast Forestside, Victoria Station, Windsor, Dundee, Glasgow Central, Eastbourne and Exeter, with the company saying it does “not feel they will recover sufficiently”.
The closures leave the Causeway Capital-backed group with just 30 sites – down from a high of nearly 200 in 2017.
Patisserie Valerrie, which is part of the same group as 60-strong Bakers + Baristas, reviewed its estate coming out of lockdown. In a statement, it said like many operators in the sector, it had faced a period of “unprecedented challenges” in recent times Despite these challenges the company said it will continue to grow, particularly via its direct to consumer online nationwide cake delivery service and national wholesale partnership with Sainsbury's.
“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," says CEO James Fleming.