and lower consumer confidence are to blame. our business editor simonjack has been to cardiff to talk to small businesses about the financial pressures they re facing. going, going gone. this wine merchant is picking up the last of the stock as he shuts down his business. 2023 shaping up to be a little shop of horrors. the number of companies in critical financial distress up caught in the last three months and this year is expected to see business failures than any since the crisis of 2009. i realised the shot wasn t valid anymore, i had to close the shop i went back online where i started originally but there was not the same, not the same spending power in the markets i could not make ends meet, i could not make ends meet, i could not make ends meet, i could not pay my suppliers or myself and the additional cost. that s when i realised it was not a valid business. insolvency experts say thousands of other business owners may find themselves in the same boat. it owners may