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‘We cannot afford to pay any more than we’re paying now’ – SMEs face perfect storm

From hikes in the minimum wage to an increase in the hospitality Vat rate, some say it’s never been harder to be in business

Laura Kelly, from Kali Coffee Bar in Salthill, Galway, and her partner, Enda Johnston: ‘We have never experienced a 13.5 per cent Vat rate, so it is a shock for us.’ Picture: Andrew Downes/xposure

Brian Goff has been serving customers from the heart of Dublin city centre as the owner of the St Stephen’s Green food village for close on a decade. Continuing to do so, he said, has never been more difficult.

“I’ve been in this business a long time, but it has never had a more difficult period. On top of that, we are facing into what I think is probably going to be an even more difficult period next year. Most of this has been outside our control,” Goff told the Business Post.