Maison Blanc Cafe Starts Trading Again
Turnham Green Terrace patisserie opens up but future remains unclear
Maison Blanc, the café and patisserie on Turnham Green Terrace, which recently closed at short notice prompting speculation it may have shut permanently, has started trading again.
There were concerns that the strategic review which has recently been commissioned by the owners had led to a decision to shut the Chiswick branch. The chain’s operations are loss-making according to the latest set of published account.
The Evening Standard reported in September that property agent Davis Coffer Lyons had been hired to carry out a location by location strategic review of the chain’s 13 stores and production facility. A number of the branches have closed but it remains unclear if these are shut permanently.
They have six outlets in London including the Chiswick branch as well as a number of others dotted around the home counties and a manufacturing base in Park Royal. At the time of the report it was stated that the review would last for around six weeks.
An earlier statement from Maison Blanc said: “Maison Blanc has announced the appointment of Davis Coffer Lyons as specialist advisors as part of a strategic review into its current trading locations, this also includes the Maison Blanc production facility at Park Royal in London.”
The original Oxford café which was set up by celebrity chef Raymond Blanc in 1980 is reportedly already closed but it is not clear whether this is for refurbishment. The branch in Guildford has been closed with a notice saying it will reopen on 8 January. Raymond Blanc is no longer involved with the business with the firm now being owned by a unit of the Kuwait-based Kout Food Group.
We were unable to contact Maison Blanc to confirm what is happening with the Chiswick store and staff were unable to confirm what the company's plans are for the local branch. Their web site has been taken down. We have contacted Kout Foods for comment.
December 31, 2016