Owners have blamed increased Government costs and the heatwave
Romesh Ranganathan said he is “gutted” after the 89-year-old bakery chain he part-owned has shut down blaming hikes to business rates and national insurance. Coughlans Bakery – which operates a chain of shops across south London, Kent, Surrey and West Sussex – announced it had ceased trading on Tuesday after it went into voluntary liquidation.
Ranganathan, who is best known for his deadpan stand-up comedy, became a co-owner of the bakery chain in 2024, describing it as “the partnership of the century”. In a video posted to Facebook, managing director Sean Coughlan said the decision to close was affected in part by the Government’s decision to increase national insurance contributions for employers in April last year.
He also blamed high business rates, which he said had “absolutely smashed local business”. Mr Coughlan said these taxes, combined with the spike in fuel prices in the wake of the conflict in the Middle East, cost the company an extra £20,000 a week.
Ranganathan reposted Mr Coughlan’s video to his 1.4 million followers on Instagram with the caption: “Gutted isn’t the word.” In the video, Mr Coughlan said: “Romesh has been amazing, I want to thank him so much. I feel like we’ve absolutely let him down. Everything he’s done, it’s been from the heart.
“He’s devastated. None of us saw this coming. We were looking forward to working together. We had so much fun. There’s not a day working with Rom we haven’t had a great time, and he’s really included himself into our family.”
Mr Coughlan said recent heatwaves, which saw the South East England swelter in temperatures as high as 35C, had been the “nail in the coffin”. “These two heatwaves where no-one really seems to come out,” he said.
“We literally take about 50% of what we would normally take in a normal week, with our outgoing still exactly the same, which is absolutely heartbreaking.”
Mr Coughlan said the business went into voluntary liquidation in order to make sure they will still be able to pay suppliers and employees.
