Bars are fighting for customers
PUBS are ‘fighting like never before to get a piece of customers’ disposable income’, with some getting trapped in debt they cannot escape from, according to the president of the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland.
Publican and VFI chief John Clendennen told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘The days of the majority of our members just relying on drink sales are limited.’
Pubs have had to ‘add sophistication to the product offering just to get people through the door, whether it be putting on events, adding food, accommodation, sports, live entertainment,’ he said.
Mr Clendennen said his pub, Giltraps in Kinnitty, Co. Offaly, ‘took a major risk’ during the pandemic by doubling in size and then focusing on larger bookings.
The risk paid off, but he acknowledged other pubs ‘are certainly struggling’.
He said: ‘What has transpired for some who got access to finance during Covid is we’ve seen heightened interest rates, we’ve seen increased costs in relation to doing business in general, whether it be energy or inflation, and then finally, the cost of labour.’
The publican, who is also a Fine Gael county councillor, said previous supports have provided a lifeline, but the Government now needs to ‘ensure they have funding contingencies in place to support the sector in case the storm is worse than we anticipated’.
Mr Clendennen said the landscape has changed for pubs in the past 20 years.
‘Once upon a time, you opened the door from half 10 in the morning and you traded until closing time and you were fighting the customers to go home. It’s very easy to get rid of customers at closing time now. The majority of people are coming out earlier and they’re going home earlier.’