Post by Business Matters Magazine

Ninety years of baking, undone in a single, brutal cost cycle. Coughlans Bakery, the family chain co-owned by comedian Romesh Ranganathan, has gone into voluntary liquidation after 89 years, closing shops across Kent, Surrey, West Sussex and south London. Managing director Sean Coughlan points to a familiar and unforgiving mix: April's rise in employers' National Insurance to 15 per cent Business rates that have "absolutely smashed local business" Fuel prices driven up by conflict in the Middle East, adding around £20,000 a week Summer heatwaves that halved weekly takings while the bills stayed exactly the same Ranganathan, who backed the business for its plant-based range, summed it up in three words: "Gutted isn't the word." Tellingly, Coughlan chose voluntary liquidation so the firm could still pay its suppliers and staff. It is a reminder that behind every insolvency statistic sits a proprietor trying to do right by their people. With three hospitality venues now closing every day, how much more can Britain's small firms absorb before "resilient" stops being an adequate description? https://bit.ly/4gLCAfO #SME #SmallBusiness #Hospitality #BusinessRates #NationalInsurance #UKEconomy #RetailNews