High street bakery chain closes all but one branch after plunging into administration

A HIGH street bakery chain has crashed into administration and closed all but one of its stores.

Le Pain Quotidien has shut nine of its ten bakeries leaving 250 out of a job, in another blow to the hospitality sector.

The Belgian coffee chain's single bakery remains open in St Pancras.

It's known for its menu of fresh bread and pastries, as well as lunch and dinner menus serving classic salads and soups.

The chain also offers catering services for parties and meetings, delivering freshly prepared platters and charcuterie.

It comes after a note to customers was posted outside one of the chain's closed locations, City AM ,

It said: "The affairs business and property of the Bruncho UK Limited (trading as Le Pain Quotidien) are being managed by the Joint Administrators, Sarah Rayment and Philip Dakin of Kroll Advisory."

The St Pancras site is owned by its sister company SPQ Holdings Limited and so will not be impacted and will remain open.

But it measn nine Le Pain Quotidien stores located in the following locations have now closed for good:

• The Westgate Centre, Oxford
• Marylebone High Street, London
• Hyde Park, London
• Mayfair, London
• Covent Garden, London
• South Kensington, London
• Royal Festival Hall, London
• Monument, London
• Parsons Green, London

A spokesperson for the bakery chain said: "We have explored every possible option to save the business but it has not been possible to rescue it.

"Trading has therefore ceased and unfortunately all staff have been made redundant."

The chain said that its flagship St Pancras store will continue to be its "anchor."

But Le Pain Quotidien could still make a return to high streets across the country.

It is already holding talks with potential partners in the UK for new franchises in cities, travel spots, and hotels.

Administration is when all control of a company is passed on to an appointed insolvency practitioner.

It doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the business.

Instead, administrators will try to help a company find ways to repay debts or solve its cashflow problems.

Administration can last anywhere from a few weeks to up to a year or more.

But if the administration process can't rescue the company or find a new owner, this usually leads to liquidation.

Liquidation is the process of selling all assets and then dissolving the company completely.

Sarah Rayment, global co-head of restructuring at Kroll: "Pressures on parts of the hospitality and casual dining sector have been well highlighted.

"Brunchco UK Limited which is predominantly located in London has suffered from reduced revenues as a result of decreased footfall in the capital, high rents and increased wage costs.

"As part of the next steps of the insolvency, we will be looking to realise value from the company's leasehold interests and other assets."

Le Pain Quotidien's US arm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy back in 2020 – closing all 98 of its US stores. 

But some stores have since reopened in New York City.

The news comes just days after Cooplands closed nine of its bakeries without warning as part of an "in-depth" review of the business.

The Scarborough-based bakery is the largest family-owned bakery chain in the UK.

It was founded as a single shop in Scarborough, Yorkshire, in 1885 and has now expanded to become the UK's second-largest bakery chain behind Greggs.

Cooplands has over 160 bakeries and 12 cafes across Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and the North East.

The bakery favourite is famed for massive cakes and a large range of sweet and savoury products.

The popular chain was forced to close nine locations including Scarborough, Berwick Hills, Skelton and Great Ayton in North Yorkshire.

Retailers have been feeling the pinch since the pandemic as shoppers are cutting back on their spending due to soaring inflation.

When prices go up, it squeezes households' incomes, meaning people have less money to spend.

This is bad news for shops, restaurants and pubs.

We've listed all the shops closing down in July including Argos and Iceland.