Episode 11 – Putting the soul back into Patisserie Valerie

For this special bonus episode of The IC Podcast, Katie interviewed Paolo Peretti, Managing Retail Director of Patisserie Valerie, in front of a live audience at AB Thinks Live, our biannual internal comms event. In a wide-ranging conversation, Paolo discussed his regime of daily blogging, the ins-and-outs of cake display competitions and, of course, the topic on everyone’s minds: the crisis at the heart of Patisserie Valerie’s finances. In October 2018, it was reported that Patisserie Valerie had a £94m black hole in its accounts. The firm subsequently went into administration, sparking the closure of 70 of its almost-200 stores and concessions, and the loss of 900 jobs. How do you regain trust in such circumstances? And how do you begin to take on the difficult task of steering the store back into clearer waters? Paolo explains all in this episode.