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.

Kelly Miles says she could not believe the impact the forgotten fee had on her life

A mum was horrified to discover she was refused a mortgage for her new home because she’d forgotten to pay a £3.99 delivery charge. Kelly Miles says she discovered she had a ‘big red mark’ on her credit file when she and her ex-partner applied for a mortgage.

Unaware of where the red mark had come from, the 33-year-old did some digging and was shocked to discover that a missed £3.99 delivery charge was the reason why she was unable to take out a mortgage. Kelly says she used a buy now, pay later scheme to purchase an iPad mini as a birthday present a year before for her partner at the time. But despite meeting the £500 repayment for the actual iPad within the six-month period, Kelly was left with a red mark on her file due to missing the delivery fee.

Your credit score reflects how reliable you are with credit, and it affects your ability to borrow money. Credit scores weigh up lots of different pieces of information, including previous credit applications and payments.

The mum-of-two uncovered that the £3.99 delivery charge for the iPad had been missed off the re-payment plan. This meant that Kelly was left with a ‘red mark’ on her credit file that left her unable to take out a mortgage for six years.

The advice charity manager shared her ordeal on social media and says the 2016 incident has left her checking her credit score every month – and urges others to do the same. Kelly Miles, from Portsmouth, Hampshire, said: “Young me decided I wanted to get my ex-partner an iPad mini and I bought it on a buy now pay later. That part of it was fine, it was on a six-month agreement and I paid it in six months. Me and my ex lived in a rental property at the time and the landlord wanted to serve us notice on that rental property.

“We wanted to buy so we went ahead and put the mortgage application in which is when we discovered this big red mark on my credit file. It turned out the iPad mini that I’d bought on buy now pay later had a £3.99 delivery charge to be sent to me, which apparently I didn’t pay at the time of purchase.

“But I never had notification of this – I don’t remember seeing a single letter. Basically this £3.99 charge that I hadn’t paid for delivery had been put on as a mis-payment so I’m meant to have paid it, but each time I’ve missed the payment, it’s put that massive red mark on my credit file. On that basis I couldn’t get accepted for a mortgage and my ex-partner had to buy the house without me.”

Kelly says she felt ‘disappointed’ when she found out about the mishap which left her unable to take out a mortgage for six years. Kelly said: “I was really surprised – it didn’t spring to mind at all [when we first found out about the red mark], I had to do some investigating through my file to find out what it was.

“I was frustrated because it was out of my control, I couldn’t go in and suddenly edit it or something. I was disappointed and I was annoyed in the sense that someone could put that mark against my name without me having any knowledge or awareness of it.”

The red mark on her file left Kelly unable to take out a mortgage for six years. Kelly said: “I was unable to take out a mortgage for six years. I also had to be very careful in terms of any other credit as well, because my chances of getting refused then for credit were higher which would then just pose more marks on to my file.”

Kelly says the experience put her off using buy now, pay later schemes and she is now more conscious of her credit score. Kelly said: “Before then though I was never in any debt – this was the only buy-now-pay-later thing I’d ever bought, so I almost had no reason to check my credit score regularly.

“We’re looking to buy next year so I’m very conscious of my credit score at the moment and making sure that there’s nothing creeping up on there. I think I am more conscious because of that incident – I think if maybe I wasn’t then I would assume that my credit is fine.

“I’m not someone who’s in debt so you would always automatically assume that your credit score must be good, but it wasn’t. That experience put me off buy now, pay later – I would say avoid using them in general if you can avoid them.”

Kelly is now urging other people to check their credit score regularly – and says she is doing so monthly as she looks to apply for a mortgage next year. Kelly said: “Frequently check your credit score – especially if you’ve taken out a new product, like a buy now pay later, or a finance product like a credit card or loan.

“You need to check quite soon after you’ve taken it out how that has been placed onto your credit file – checking that the information on there is correct. I check my credit score at least once a month now.”

She ‘acted instantly’ before being told how much she would get

A Martin Lewis follower has revealed how she recovered more than £2,000 after settling her student loan. Daniela, who resides in Loughborough with her husband and two children, was highlighted on the Martin Lewis Money Show to discuss her ‘student finance win’.

To qualify as a maths teacher, Daniela required to borrow £16,000 for her degree, and an additional £9,000 for her teacher training. Daniela described how she was viewing the Martin Lewis Money show in November, when the finance expert outlined that over a million students have overpaid their student loans.

Daniela stated there were numerous reasons cited and that one was experiencing gaps in employment. She said: “In the last few years I had to give up my job when I had my eldest child.”

She continued: “Once Martin shared that you could possibly have overpaid a student loan, I acted instantly.” Daniela simply accessed her student finance account and examined her statement, before submitting a refund request.

“Within 48 hours of my application, I was told I would get a refund of £2,213. It was a pinch-me moment. I was seven months pregnant. I’m not working, I don’t get an income. Having that money was really helpful.”

The Money Saving Expert (MSE) website advises that “reclaiming overpayments often only takes minutes”. Common causes of overpayment include continuing to make repayments despite not having reached the earnings threshold, being registered on the incorrect student loan plan, deductions continuing after the loan has been fully settled, and beginning repayments ahead of schedule.