PAUL

PAUL is a French bakery-café chain with its head office in Marcq-en-Barœul near Lille. The brand traces its roots to 1889, when Charlemagne Mayot took over a small bakery in Croix near Lille. In the early 1950s the Holder family took over a local bakery owned by the PAUL family and kept the PAUL name. The company describes itself as a family firm that has passed its production methods down through five generations.

Range

PAUL sells bread and viennoiserie, cakes and pastries, sandwiches, salads, soups and other café dishes. The company introduced its own cake range in the early 1950s, and in 1993 Francis Holder refreshed the brand with the black shop fronts that are now its trademark.

Where to find it

According to PAUL's UK website, the bakeries can be found on five continents, in over 45 countries, with 750 or more bakeries. The first bakery outside France opened in Barcelona in 1985. Some PAUL bakeries have a café or restaurant area.

Ownership

PAUL belongs to the family-owned Groupe Holder, based in the north of France. No non-European holder is known.