Family-run chain Coughlans Bakery has gone into liquidation and closed all 32 of its shops across south London, Surrey, Kent, and West Sussex.
Founded in 1937, the third-generation business had continued expanding southwards from its base in Croydon, with most recent openings in Horsham last year. These were supplied from its 25,000 sq ft production site in Thornton Heath – a historic bakery said to have been going for around 200 years – which it acquired in 1971.
In a video posted on the company’s Facebook page yesterday evening (30 June), managing director Sean Coughlan said: “I sit here with a massively heavy heart, and to break the news that I’d never thought I’d have to do in my lifetime. Sadly today, our lovely…