Many headlines painted the picture of another coronavirus casualty, but the cold, hard truth is that Thorntons only has itself to blame. 

Once a strong brand with a good customer base, the business lost its way spectacularly either side of its £112m acquisition by Ferrero in August 2015, supplying its ranges to almost any bidder it seemed, let alone the highest.

Thorntons chased revenues over relevance – and ended up squandering both – unwittingly becoming a corporate case study in how to destroy brand equity.