Group structure has more in common with cake than you think.
We had a bake sale last week to raise money for Women’s Aid. There were many, many amazing treats baked by colleagues and we raised over £250.
Whilst I was looking for inspiration – intending to buy rather than bake – I was reminded of Patisserie Valerie.
Patisserie Valerie has largely disappeared from our high streets, with only a few stores remaining across the UK. In fact, for the last two years they (Patisserie Valerie Stores Limited, below) have been in the process of folding.
Looking at structure
A brand can span more than just one company at Companies House. During the pandemic Patisserie Valerie started doing nationwide deliveries. This was run out of a separate company in their group: Patisserie Valerie Production Limited.
An easy way to see this is through the group structure tab of the Industry Engine. There are two distinct brands within the group. Flour Power Group Limited and Patisserie Valerie Production Limited. These are companies that we think matter within the group.
There are subsidiaries that do other things too. There’s Flour Power Marketing but, with few employees and little activity, this is quite stale compared to the other companies. Cakeco 11652 seems to be a growing part of the business, but there’s not much information on it.
Like a nice cake, there are many tiers to the group structure of Patisserie Valerie. Unfortunately, not all the tiers are equally important when understanding the group.
Making the right decision
So, how is Patisserie Valerie doing and where can I find the information to answer that? Could we see them as present on our high streets again? The best answer to this question can be found by using Flour Power. That is, looking at the brand at the top of the group.
Flour Power provides a summary of the performance across all other companies in the group (they file consolidated accounts, as shown in the screenshot below) and that makes it a lot easier to understand what is happening.
It turns out Flour Power is actually starting to increase again, after the difficulties faced between 2019 and 2022. Their headcount has started to increase (see chart below). Looking at their socials, they’ve reopened a Patisserie Valerie in York and maybe this is the humble start of their return.
Choosing a middle slice, rather than an end slice of a cake makes a difference in experience. Similarly, with group structure, choosing the right company or companies makes a difference to your analysis. Our recent update has focussed on making it easier to include the right slice of companies in your analysis.
The icing on the cake
Whether you’re analysing a household brand or uncovering emerging companies hidden deep within a corporate structure, understanding group relationships changes the quality of your insight.
Our latest Industry Engine update makes it easier to identify the companies that matter, cut through group complexity, and build more accurate sector analysis in real time.
To explore group structures, RTICs, and company networks for yourself, start your free trial of The Data City Industry Engine today.
