The Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) lobby group today published its Survey of Licensed Premises 2009, which it termed "the largest ever research exercise undertaken on the Irish on-licensed sector." DIGI says more than 1,500 pubs, clubs, hotels and restaurants have shut their doors in the past five years.
It was a surprise that Capital Bars during the boom, owning such high profile Dublin pubs such as Café en Seine, the gay pub the George , Howl at the Moon and Zanzibar, could have been so badly run as not being able to manage to make a profit but other outlets raked in the cash and like farmers who have soon forgotten about past good harvests, the begging bowl is now out to a traditionally friendly group - - politicians.
Today's report, compiled by DCU economist Anthony Foley, is DIGI’s sixth Survey of Licensed Premises and covers the period 2004-2009. The main conclusions of the report are that during that period employment has decreased, sales revenues have fallen, and labour costs have increased in pubs, restaurants, hotels, and nightclubs.
Speaking at the launch of the report in Kehoe’s of South Anne Street in Dublin city centre this morning, DIGI Chairman, Kieran Tobin, said that the survey records a period of decline in the on-trade in Ireland that had begun in the early years of the decade, and which has accelerated sharply over the last 18 months.
Tobin said that the economic downturn and lifestyle changes were combining with high alcohol taxes and a major increase in cross-border trade to put the wider drinks industry under immense pressure, but particularly pubs, bars, restaurants, and nightclubs where closures and redundancies are now commonplace.
Accordingly, Tobin called on the Government to reduce by 20% Ireland’s excessive levels of excise duty which are amongst the highest in Europe to sustain an industry that continues to provide thousands of jobs and billions of euro in revenue to the State.
“The Survey of Licensed Premises 2009 details trends in the on-trade from the height of the Boom to the present day, when the entire drinks industry is in virtual freefall. In 2004 we began to see a slowdown in sales and revenue in pubs, hotels, nightclubs, and restaurants, but the scale of the decline has accelerated sharply in the last 18 months,” he said.
The report’s author, Anthony Foley added: “This survey which was conducted by Amarach Research via a telephone survey of a representative sample of 748 licensed premises is the largest research exercise undertaken on the Irish on-licensed sector and reflects its economic and social impact.
“The overall picture is one of a sector suffering a period of sharp decline, with a large majority (70%) of all licensed premises surveyed reporting a decrease in net sales over the past five years.
“Moreover, the majority of licensed premises have relatively low annual sales revenues. 49% of all premises have annual sales revenues below €200,000, while at the low end, 27% of pubs located outside Dublin have annual sales revenues of less than €60,000.
“These declining revenues have had an impact on employment with 47% of all premises surveyed reporting a decrease in their staff levels over the five year period. This figure rises to 65% for pubs and bars in Dublin.
“At the same time, the on-trade remains employment intensive, with 75,000 people currently working in pubs, hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, at an average of seven staff per premises. As a consequence, labour costs are significant. The share of wages and salaries in net sales is at or over 25% for 30% of licensed premises compared with 19% of premises in 2003.”
The report says one in three rural pubs predicting that they will struggle to survive.
Over half of those surveyed said that they had started advertising for custom, with many also now providing entertainment.
Global alcohol rankings 2009
