Assessment Information
This assignment is designed to assess learning outcomes:
1. Critically assess the social, economic and legal context, rationale and drivers for
corporate governance.
2. Discuss the value and limitations of key academic research on module topics.
3. Integrate and synthesise between module topics to discuss the key issues in corporate governance theory, research and practice (including associated reporting, regulation and ethical issues).
This assignment is an individual assignment.
This assignment requires each student to submit an individual assignment that carries
100% of the total module grade.
You are required to :
Explore the reasons behind the collapse of the company, Patisserie Valerie in the UK. In your
analysis, include a critical evaluation of the company’s degree of compliance with the UK
Code of Corporate Governance, 2016 version.
The UK Code of Corporate Governance can be found on the Financial Reporting Council
(FRC) website (www.frc.gov.uk) or on the module page on MOODLE. To know how your
assignment should be structured and the required content in each section, please see the
recommended assessment structure in this guide.
Students are required to support their arguments with evidence from credible sources
including academic articles, professional articles, or regulatory reports. All sources used
in your assignment have to comply with the Harvard Referencing Guide.
Recommended Assignment Structure
Your individual assignment should follow the following structure.
I. Overview of Patisserie Valerie
In this section, you need to provide an overview of the Company including:
The company’s industry
The size of the company
Who owns the company
DO NOT forget to acknowledge the sources used (i.e. minimum of three
credible sources). Only credible sources should be used.
II. The Collapse of Patisserie Valerie
In this section, you need to explain:
How did the company collapse? i.e. What happened?
Why did the company collapse? i.e. What are the reasons behind this
collapse?
How did the company’s collapse come to light? i.e. How did the public
know about the company’s collapse?
What is the amount and impact of loss as a result of the company’s
collapse?
DO NOT forget to acknowledge the sources used (i.e. minimum of five
credible sources). Only credible sources should be used.
III. The extent of Patisserie Valerie’s compliance with the UK code
In this section, you need to explain:
To what extent the company has complied with the 2016 code of corporate
governance in the UK? i.e. what are the principles and the provisions of
the code that the company has complied with? And what are the principles
and the provisions that the company has not complied with?
Do you think the collapse of the company was a result of corporate
governance failure? Explain and justify your answer
Critically evaluate the role of the company’s external auditors in this
collapse. Do you think the auditors have done enough? Explain and justify
Assignment Brief Template
Page 2 of 6
DO NOT forget to acknowledge the sources used (i.e. minimum of five
credible sources). Only credible sources should be used.
IV. What are the lessons learned from the collapse of Patisserie Valerie?
In this section, you need to express your opinion on what should be learnt from
the collapse of Patisserie Valerie. Examples: Do you think specific regulations
need change, why, and how? What do you think was the main cause of this
collapse based on your own personal opinion?
V. References (Not in the word count)
In this section, you MUST provide all the sources used in your work. Please
follow the Harvard Referencing guide for referencing. All sources have to be
alphabetically ordered.
Criteria for Assessment
This assessment carries 100% of the total module grade and will be marked out of 100%. You
need to get at least 40% to pass this assessment. The grade awarded will be based on the
overall quality of the assignment and not on the quality of separate sections. An
indicative guide on how marks will be allocated is provided in this section to guide you
through the weighting given to each section and the rubric that will be considered in
assessing your work. You should endeavor to work hard and to meet the requirements for
each single section in this assignment to guarantee a good grade.
