Romesh Ranganathan has said he is “gutted” after the 89-year-old bakery chain he part-owned, Coughlans Bakery, ceased trading on Tuesday, blaming rising costs and a heatwave. The comedian, who became a co-owner in 2024 and called it “the partnership of the century”, reposted a video from managing director Sean Coughlan to his 1.4 million Instagram followers with the caption: “Gutted isn’t the word.”
Coughlan announced the voluntary liquidation of the chain, which operated 31 stores across south London, Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, in a Facebook video. 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 said had “absolutely smashed local business”. These taxes, combined with a spike in fuel prices following the conflict in the Middle East, were costing the company an extra £20,000 each week, Coughlan said.
“Romesh Ranganathan says he is 'gutted' after the 89-year-old bakery chain he part-owned closed due to rising costs.”
Recent heatwaves, which saw temperatures soar to 35C in South East England, proved the “nail in the coffin”. “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,” Coughlan said.
In the emotional video, Coughlan praised Ranganathan’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. 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.”
The business entered voluntary liquidation to ensure suppliers and employees could still be paid.