Romesh Ranganathan ‘gutted’ after heatwaves force closure of 89-year-old bakery he co-owns

Romesh Ranganathan is ‘gutted’ after his part-owned bakery closes (Picture: Getty/Surrey Live/BPM MEDIA)

Romesh Ranganathan has revealed the 89-year-old bakery chain he part-owns has been closed after ‘nail in the coffin’ heatwaves.

The comedian, 48, said he was ‘gutted’ after Coughlans Bakery announced it had gone into voluntary liquidation and had stopped trading.

The chain has shops in London, Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and Romesh became involved in 2024 in ‘the partnership of the century’.

In a video posted to Facebook, managing director Sean Coughlan said the Government’s decision to increase national insurance contributions for employers in April last year had been partly responsible.

He also blamed high business rates, which he said had ‘absolutely smashed local business’.

Sean claimed the taxes and increased fuel prices due to the conflict in the Middle East had cost the company an extra £20,000 per week.

Romesh had launched products for them in their years-long partnership (Picture: Instagram) Coughlans Bakery first opened in 1937(Picture: Surrey Live/BPM MEDIA)

Romesh, who also hosts his own interview and comedy podcast, reposted the video to his Instagram with the caption: ‘Gutted isn’t the word.’

In the video, Sean detailed that record-breaking temperatures in June had been the ‘nail in the coffin’ with ‘nobody really seem[ing] to come out’.

He revealed the heatwave saw them take 50% of their usual revenue, which the company couldn’t survive while outgoings were so high.

Praising the Bafta winner, Sean continued: ‘Romesh has been amazing, I want to thank him so much. I feel like we’ve absolutely let him down. Everything he’s done, its 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.’

He previously designed a vegan treat, the Ranga Yum Yum, for the bakery and even worked behind the counter last year to celebrate the launch.

10p from every Yum Yum sold was donated to Calm, a mental health charity that Romesh is an ambassador for.

A huge queue had formed outside the Surrey shop, with Romesh joking it was a better crowd than his comedy gigs.

Coughlans Bakery went into voluntary liquidation so that they could pay staff and suppliers across their several stores.

Sean called it ‘absolutely heartbreaking’ to see the family business fold after all this time, having been founded in 1937.

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