DONAL O’LEARY

PKF O’Connor, Leddy & Holmes

Managing Partner PKF O’Connor Leddy & Holmes

Based in Harold’s Cross in Dublin, PKF O’Connor Leddy & Holmes has been trading since 1962. Donal O'Leary has over 25 years of experience in dealing with a broad range of taxation issues and advises on acquisitions and disposals of companies.

ACTIVITY We have seen both positive and negative effects on the firm. From the tax, payroll and outsourcing side we were constantly keeping our clients updated on the ever changing wage supports. Clients in industries that remain open have been able to maintain their trading levels during the pandemic. However, some clients are facing huge challenges in hospitality and retail. A large number of landlords are also facing a big problem with getting rents paid and having to do deals with tenants to survive.

SERVICES It has provided a challenge to us in relation to receiving documents from clients and operating remotely. This has meant that the way we do business has changed considerably whilst also highlighting how much of our work can be done away from client sites.

REMOTE WORKING Managers have transitioned well, with good systems put in place to keep in touch with their teams. We think it is difficult for our staff to continuously work on their own, and the remote working model is only sustainable on a hybrid basis of office and home working for the long term.

BUSINESS SUPPORTS For companies in many of the most vulnerable sectors affected by the pandemic, once government supports are reduced they will not be able to remain solvent. The main difficulty will be that these sectors will only open up in a piecemeal fashion, and the business model will not be able to support their solvency.

Current supports are good but they should be tapered. For example, the EWSS support is only available if a business experiences a 30% drop in turnover. Therefore if you have a 28% drop you get nothing, and if you have a 50% drop in turnover you do not get any additional supports.

‘Current supports are good but they should be tapered’