A Monaghan pub owner has said he has to constantly look at every aspect of his business to stay ahead of the many challenges facing the hospitality sector today. Kevin Redmond of gastro-pub Andy's Bar in Monaghan Town, said small business owners need to get "creative and innovative" to survive.
Last year, Andy's won "Innovative Pub of the Year" in Ireland. He cited how his bar has even diversified to selling Christmas presents in his bar in the form of gin-filled Christmas baubles. Speaking in the Joe Finnegan Show earlier, Mr Redmond said while there is no government support for small hospitality businesses and the VAT rate and minimum wage are set to increase, there is also a lot of what he termed "social change out there" which is affecting businesses like his.
There is no escaping the reality that running a small hospitality business is tough, he added: “A bag of onions went from €11 to €33,” Mr Redmond said, “a bag of potatoes did something similar and went from €11 to €28. My electricity went from €3k to €6k. Now we have had to change the music which used to be played throughout the building, now it’s only played in the areas where it’s needed. There’s so much social change out there, people’s habits are changing and the way they do business has changed so much.”
