Comedian Romesh Ranganathan has expressed his profound disappointment after the 89-year-old bakery chain he part-owned, Coughlans Bakery, ceased trading, citing significant increases in business rates and national insurance contributions.
The chain, which operated across south London, Kent, Surrey, and West Sussex, announced its voluntary liquidation on Tuesday. Ranganathan, known for his distinctive deadpan stand-up, had become a co-owner of the business in 2024, enthusiastically calling it “the partnership of the century.”
Sean Coughlan, the managing director, explained the decision in a video posted to Facebook. He attributed the closure partly to the government’s decision to raise national insurance contributions for employers in April last year, alongside high business rates, which he stated had “absolutely smashed local business.”
Mr Coughlan added that these tax burdens, combined with a spike in fuel prices following the conflict in the Middle East, were costing the company an additional £20,000 each week.
Ranganathan shared Mr Coughlan’s video with his 1.4 million Instagram followers, captioning it: “Gutted isn’t the word.”
In the emotional video, Mr Coughlan praised the comedian’s involvement. “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 said.
“He’s devastated. None of us saw this coming,” he continued. “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 also highlighted recent heatwaves, which saw temperatures soar to 35C in South East England, as the “nail in the coffin.”
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He explained: “These two heatwaves where no-one really seems to come out. We literally take about 50 per cent of what we would normally take in a normal week, with our outgoing still exactly the same, which is absolutely heartbreaking.”
The business entered voluntary liquidation to ensure suppliers and employees could still be paid.
