Our Story
It all starts in 1889 when Charlemagne Mayot takes over a small bakery in Croix, near Lille in the North of France. His son Edmond Mayot takes over the family business in 1908. In 1935 Suzanne Mayot, Edmond’s daughter, marries Julien Holder. They move into a bakery on Rue des Sarrazins in Lille.
Julien and Suzanne Holder move into a pastry shop in Lille that belonged to the Paul family. The name PAUL is kept… Francis Holder, who started working at a very young age with his parents, would turn it into a world-renowned brand. This first PAUL still exists and bears the mark of the generations that have followed one another there.
Francis Holder radically transforms the family bakery: he installs a wood-fired oven in full view of customers and revives traditional recipes, with slow fermentation and sourdough, at a time when white bread was in fashion. This return to tradition immediately won over the customers of the very modern shopping arcades that were flourishing then. Today, although wood-fired ovens are no longer used, our bakeries feature glass-fronted workshops that are visible to our customers in many PAUL locations.
The first international franchise opens in Japan. Our Japanese customers discover French bread and become fans of our croissants, palmiers, and canelés… The stores, identical to those in Paris, surprise and delight… The international adventure of PAUL begins! From Washington to Moscow, from Dubai to Johannesburg, from Prague to Singapore, PAUL has now opened in more than forty countries. Even today, the teams of the first store in each new country are trained in France. Because beyond the recipes, we want them to embrace the French Art de Vivre!
Maxime Holder, one of Francis’s children, opens the first PAUL in London. He immediately sees the potential of takeaway coffee, which was still rare in France at the time. Twenty years later, there are around thirty PAUL stores in London and coffee… has become one of our top-selling items!
He does so with a new store concept, featuring black façades that would go on to become a timeless signature of PAUL restaurants.
Francis Holder brings his children on board to continue the family story, appointing Maxime as CEO of PAUL International – the fifth generation, continuing the international expansion as well as focusing on PAUL’s social responsibilities. Discover our passion to bake our way to a greener future…
PAUL turns 130! And so, does the Eiffel Tower… in the very same year that crowds were flocking to Paris to gaze in awe at the magnificent tower, our first bakery opened for business in a quiet village in Northern France. We’re both still around 130 years later…
In June, PAUL lights up its bakery and pastry workshop in Barcelona. At the same time, PAUL opens its doors in the heart of the Catalan capital, on the bustling Rambla de Catalunya and also on the famous Diagonal Avenue, offering its iconic bread and café products along with an extensive menu for meals.
In November, the family grows and PAUL establishes itself in Madrid, opening a bakery workshop and two restaurants located on Calle Serrano and Plaza del Perú.
