Shareholders of a high street chain of cafes will meet next month over plans to raise £15million to help the crisis-hit firm stay afloat.

Patisserie Valerie, which has outlets in Maidstone, Canterbury, Ashford and Tunbridge Wells was hit last week by an accounting scandal which saw its shares suspended, the arrest of its chief finance officer and a £1.1m unpaid tax bill.

With the fate of its 2,500 staff nationwide hanging by a thread, it was saved in the short term by some £20m of loans from its chairman Luke Johnson.

That kept the wolves from the door, but the company which last week revealed it had been "notified of significant, and potentially fraudulent, accounting irregularities and therefore a potential material mis-statement of the company’s accounts” is now seeking to raise further funds.

A shareholder meeting has now been arranged for Thursday, November 1 in London with plans to raise £15m top of the agenda.

In a flurry of announcements last week, the board revealed it has just been made aware of a winding up notice issued by HM Revenue and Customs to its principal trading subsidiary Stonebeach Limited in September.

It relates to a £1.14 million tax bill. A hearing is set for the end of the month.

Following the concerns over its accounting, its shares were suspended from trading on AIM, the Alternative Investment Market while it “conducts a full investigation with its legal and professional advisors into its true financial position”.

In the meantime Chris Marsh, the firm’s chief financial officer, has been suspended from his role.