Senior Reporter
elizabeth.gonzales@guardian.co.tt
Six days before Passion Desserts told customers that its stores and operations were officially closed, Passion Desserts Limited had already been struck off the Companies Register.
The company’s removal occurred on February 19, 2026, for an annual-return default. Its public closure announcement was dated February 25.
The timing does not show that the strike-off caused the business to close. But it was the clearest exact-name overlap found when Guardian Media compared publicly reported closures of 16,128 companies struck off the registry from May 22, 2025 to September 1, 2026. The Gazette records used for the review were examined through October 7, 2026.
The 16,128 figure does not represent businesses shutting their doors due to financial issues.
The notices contained 1,563 removals dated in 2025 and 14,565 dated in 2026. Of the 16,128 companies, 8,555 were removed for annual-return defaults, 4,782 for failing to apply for continuance, 2,789 were listed as defunct and two were dissolved.
Each named company was counted once. Proposed removals, repeats and older removal notices republished during the period were excluded.
A strike-off can happen after a business has stopped trading. It can also involve a company that was never an active storefront or employer.
Aside from companies being struck off the registry, there were over 30 named businesses, brands or local operations that announced or were reported as closing, ceasing a local operation or permanently shutting an outlet. Sixteen of those closed between October 9, 2025 and October 9, 2026.
Passion Desserts was the only company that announced its closure and was listed under companies struck off the registry.
Two other names in the register resemble businesses in the closure list. In Demand Burger Joint Ltd was struck off as a defunct company on November 3, 2025. Jamrock Bites Limited was removed in February 2026 for an annual-return default.
The public reports show a heavier concentration of closures in the most recent year.
They were not all the same kind of closure. Nutrien began a controlled shutdown of its Trinidad nitrogen operations on October 23, 2025 and on October 5 this year announced that the Point Lisas operation would remain shut indefinitely. Standard Distributors closed its physical stores as the business changed ownership and shifted toward credit and e-commerce. MovieTowne closed its Tobago cinema while its Trinidad cinemas remained open. The Home Store closed Chaguanas after three other branches had already shut. Readymix permanently ended its aggregates and ready-mix operations on March 31.
Others were stand-alone restaurants and bars. D’Bocas closed after 37 years in Port-of-Spain. Burger Joint and Jamrock Authentic Jerk closed on Ariapita Avenue. The Residence closed at One Woodbrook Place. Rib Shack closed after nearly a decade. Crapaud Foot closed after about 18 months.
Economist Ronald Ramkissoon said while the 16,000-plus companies struck off the registry does not translate to companies shutting down, he said the wider business environment, however, has been difficult.
“The business environment has been very difficult for entrepreneurs, business people, small businesses, large businesses,” he said, pointing particularly to the scarcity of foreign exchange.
The reasons for the closures vary from company to company. But the list comes as business groups enter another Budget repeating many of the same pressures: foreign exchange, weak demand, unpaid State bills, VAT refunds and rising operating costs.
The Manufacturers’ Association has raised the VAT refund backlog, foreign exchange and support for SMEs and exporters. The Coalition of Services Industries has called for faster Government payments. Trade Minister Satyakama Maharaj said that after 12 consultations involving more than 1,000 business leaders, Customs and foreign exchange were the two issues that kept returning.
Tobago businessman Curtis Williams said delayed State payments were already squeezing businesses.
“Some of us are on our knees because we don’t have no cash flow. Some of us can’t even pay our workers. And these things are hampering a lot of small businesses on the island,” he said.
Ramkissoon said forex shortages, VAT refund delays, unpaid Government bills and weak demand are not isolated complaints.
“They are symptoms of the wider economy; they are symptoms of a weakness, of a wider weakness in the economy,” he said.
He said delayed VAT refunds can also work against growth: “When you do not pay back the VAT refunds to businesses, you are reducing their capacity to expand and to grow, and to do more business from which you get taxes.”
In the final weeks before the Budget, different sectors have raised similar pressures.
Trade, Investment and Tourism Minister Satyakama Maharaj said on October 8 that Government had held 12 consultations involving more than 1,000 business leaders. He said two issues kept returning: Customs and foreign exchange.
James said the country still needs to build industries capable of earning foreign exchange, raising productivity and creating higher-income jobs. He identified education, healthcare, creative industries and financial services among those areas.
“The way you develop the economy,” James said, “is that you raise living standards while you are solving the foreign exchange problem. And that requires the diversification of the economy.”
Asked what one thing he needed to hear from Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo on Monday to convince him the country was changing direction, James said: “That’s easy.”
“The changing the system of government. That’s our most important and biggest development project,” he said. “You have to set up the government properly to enable economic development and diversification.”
