Redundant Patisserie Valerie staff ‘not being paid for final month's work'

Staff who worked in the 70 closed Patisserie Valerie stores have not been paid for their final month's work, despite chairman Luke Johnson injecting £3m into the company payroll.

According to the BBC, the 900 affected must now apply to the government for redundancy.

Chermayne Bonnaud, who was manager of Patisserie Valerie in Peterborough city centre, told the broadcaster that she had expected to receive pay at the end of January, but instead was sent a P45.

She said: "I was expecting a bonus as well. I wasn't paid my October] bonus either, but received an email stating we would be back-paid.

"Now we've left the company, every store manager who met their targets is missing two months' bonus. We've just lost that money.

"I'm getting married in August. I've got that to pay for - it's not like we could put any money aside."

A chef, Brandon Dann, who worked in a Patisserie Valerie in Salisbury, Wiltshire, said he found out about the company's administration online.

He told the BBC: "I called downstairs to tell my manager. They told me to come down - there was a KPMG administrator already there.

"He shook me by the hand, told me sorry, but the store was being closed down. I actually left that thinking I was going to get paid."

Administrator KPMG later told him that Patisserie Valerie wouldn't be paying him.

He added: "They're not paying the staff made redundant."

A spokesperson for the administrators said: "We recognise this is a very difficult time for those members of staff who have lost their jobs. We are providing them with support, including assisting with claims to the Redundancy Payments Service."