Adrian Johnson, who stepped down as chief executive of EAT, the Lyceum Capital-backed sandwich shop chain, last year, has stepped down as managing director of Patisserie Valerie, the Patisserie Holdings-owned chain, MCA has learnt.
Johnson only joined the Patisserie Holdings-owned, c120-strong brand last summer, working under group chief executive Paul May at the Luke Johnson-chaired company, which also operates the Druckers, Philpotts and Baker & Spice brands.
Johnson, the former managing director of Costa Retail, joined the c115-strong EAT in January 2013, after 22 years at Whitbread and after overseeing a trebling of store numbers and driving consistent like-for-like growth at Costa Retail. He will also oversee the Druckers brand at Patisserie Holdings.
He stepped down from EAT last April, with Andrew Walker, the former managing director of Pret A Manger UK, becoming the group’s new chief executive earlier this summer.
Last year, May told MCA he can easily see Patisserie Valerie doubling in size in the coming years as it continues to dominate the group’s rollout programme.
At the end of last year, Patisserie Holdings entered talks to acquire Maison Blanc, the patisserie chain founded by Raymond Blanc. However, it is thought that those talks have stalled.
MCA revealed last September that Maison Blanc’s owners the Kout Food Group had appointed advisors as part of a strategic review of the brand’s 13 sites and production facility.
