South Wales-based, Ferrari’s has closed eight of its bakery retail shops in response to the current economic climate. Its Mumbles, Porthcawl, Mountain Ash, Tredegar, Abertillery and one of its Bridgend shops were closed after trading on Saturday, 25 October. Further closures were seen at its shops in Abergavenny and Hereford after trading on Monday, 27 October.

"We traded for three months and checked the figures and they were the most underperforming stores with the biggest overheads," said Steve Davies, director of ICD Wales, which owns 32 Ferrari’s outlets. "With the credit crunch, they just weren’t viable any more,"

ICD Wales formed as a new company in June this year to purchase 32 of the 60-shop Ferrari’s Fresh estate, after the business went into administration.