Businesses close all the time but the list of those we have lost this year makes for very bleak reading.
Dreams dashed, debts run up and people out of work, the loss of any firm is a tragedy on many levels.
Companies have suffered a relentless squeeze since the pandemic in 2020. It was followed by Brexit-related shortages, and a cost of living crisis which saw spiralling inflation and soaring energy bills.
Reasons for closure are many and varied - here we take a sober look at the pubs, restaurants and firms that pulled down the shutters for the last time in 2023.
1. wilko
Wilko had 400 shops and employed 12,000 but they were all gone by October 2 after the firm collapsed. In Sheffield it has stores on Haymarket, Hillsborough, Meadowhall, Crystal Peaks and St James Retail Park. The one on Haymarket in the city centre also housed the city’s main Post Office, dealing shoppers a double blow.
2. Safestyle
Safestyle ceased trading and plunged into administration on Monday October 30 with the loss of nearly 700 jobs. The double glazing firm had a large factory in Wombwell, Barnsley, and was headquartered in Bradford. It also had 42 sales offices and depots across the UK. Bosses blamed falling demand due to the cost-of-living crisis and soaring costs.
3. True North Brew Co
The Sheffield pub company behind The Forum, Broadfield and Riverside made it through Covid but was felled by the cost of living crisis. The company’s venues, brewery and distillery kept running, safeguarding more than 300 jobs, after a deal was done to shed debts and sell it back to bosses with a new name: Cocktails and Craft Beers Limited.
4. Tuffnells
More than 2,000 people lost their jobs when Sheffield delivery firm Tuffnells collapsed in June. Administrators blamed “the highly competitive nature of the UK parcel delivery market, coupled with significant inflation across the company's fixed cost base.”