Janes Bakery secures Coughlans rescue deal

Gloucestershire-based Janes Bakery has acquired the majority of Coughlans Bakeries’ business and selected assets after the long-established South London chain entered voluntary liquidation. The deal could allow up to 25 of Coughlans’ former 31 shops to reopen under new ownership. The purchase price has not been disclosed.

The transaction was completed by joint liquidators Paul Bailey and Kirren Keegan of Bailey Ahmad Business Recovery, known as BABR. Coughlans stopped trading on 1 July 2026, leaving around 175 employees facing redundancy and customers across South London, Surrey and Sussex without their local bakery shops. The sale was secured within weeks of the closure.

Former Coughlans shops set to trade under Janes Pantry

The Coughlans name was not included in the transaction, so the shops that return are expected to operate under the Janes Bakery brand. Janes trades through its Janes Pantry outlets and has built its business around bread, cakes, pastries, café products and other freshly prepared bakery goods. Its operating model is therefore closely aligned with the shops it is taking over.

Janes chief executive David Davies said the company would move quickly, but responsibly, to reopen viable locations. Former Coughlans employees will be able to apply for roles as individual shops are assessed and brought back into operation. That approach could restore a significant number of jobs, although it does not guarantee that every former employee will be rehired.

The exact reopening schedule has not yet been announced. Nor has Janes confirmed which six of the former Coughlans locations will not return. Decisions are expected to depend on each shop’s trading potential, staffing requirements, lease arrangements and the cost of restarting operations.

A new chapter for a bakery business founded in 1937

Coughlans began trading from a corner shop in Thornton Heath in 1937 and remained a family-run business for almost nine decades. Its estate eventually expanded across parts of south London, Surrey, Kent and West Sussex, making it a familiar presence on local high streets. The sudden closure therefore affected not only employees, but also regular customers and nearby businesses.

The company’s directors had attributed the collapse to rising employment costs, higher business rates and the effect of summer heatwaves on trading. Those pressures reflect the difficult economics facing many bakery and café operators, where staffing, energy, ingredients, rent and business rates can quickly erode margins. Janes’ decision to acquire the viable parts of the estate suggests that location-by-location discipline will be central to the recovery.

Janes brings its own recent takeover experience

Janes Bakery was established in Gloucestershire in 1971 and has itself recently undergone a change in ownership. Following the retirement of its previous boss, Yeovil-based Percy’s Baking UK took on Janes’ 11 shops and approximately 100 employees. The company is now using that experience to expand into a much larger former Coughlans network.

The acquisition gives Janes an opportunity to establish its brand across a new geographical area without building every location from scratch. It also gives the company access to existing high-street premises that were already configured for bakery and café trading. However, reopening a large number of shops at speed will require careful control of supply chains, recruitment, equipment and store-level profitability.

For local communities, the potential return of the shops offers more than the restoration of a place to buy bread or lunch. Empty premises can weaken footfall and reduce the sense of activity on a high street, particularly in smaller town centres. Reopening even part of the former estate could help restore employment, customer traffic and everyday services.

What happens next for the 31 former Coughlans locations

The former Coughlans network included shops in Croydon, Addiscombe, Beckenham, West Wickham, Purley, Banstead, Caterham, Coulsdon, Crawley, Thornton Heath, Dorking, Epsom, Forestdale, Godstone, Horley, Horsham, Lingfield, Kingswood, Oxted, Reigate, Stoneleigh, Wallington, Warlingham and Westerham. The liquidators said the sale creates a future for 25 locations, but the individual reopening decisions remain outstanding. Customers should therefore wait for confirmed announcements before assuming that a particular branch will return.

The Thornton Heath bakery site is not part of the Janes transaction. The former production and head-office premises were separate from the shop estate, leaving the future of that site distinct from the proposed reopening programme. For now, the focus is on identifying viable shops, rebuilding teams and bringing bakery services back under the Janes Pantry name.