Senior partners at FRP Advisory, Paul Allen and Geoff Rowley have been appointed to replace David Costley-Wood and Will Wright of KPMG who had been appointed joint administrators of PV Holdings Realisations Limited (formerly Patisserie Valerie Holdings Limited) in February 2019. In a statement FRP said: “The liquidators will now work with the administrators KPMG to ensure an orderly hand over before conducting their investigation.”
Separately the Financial Reporting Council is investigating the audits carried out by Grant Thornton of Patisserie Holdings for the years 2015-2017 and the Serious Fraud Office is conducting a criminal investigation into former Patisserie Valerie CFO Chris Marsh.
In March KPMG said: “In light of the apparent accounting misstatements that occurred in the period prior to the administration appointment, a number of regulators are investigating the Company’s affairs in that period.
“It will be necessary for the Company to consider whether there may be sufficient grounds to establish potential legal claims against a number of parties. These parties may include Grant Thornton, who were the auditors to the Patisserie Valerie Group.”
However, KPMG also flagged a potential conflict of interest, pointing out that ‘Grant Thornton are also auditors to KPMG, and given that the Joint Administrators are partners in KPMG, it would not be appropriate for the Joint Administrators to consider whether the Company has a potential legal claim against Grant Thornton. We are therefore proposing the appointment of an additional administrator, who will have the responsibility to review all potential legal claims’.
