Almost 50 restaurants close in November due to high costs and reduced demand, industry body claims
Restaurants Association of Ireland said the figure was ‘tip of the iceberg’ and called on the Vat rate to be reduced for hospitality businesses
Almost 50 restaurants, cafés and other food businesses were forced to close in November, according to the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI).
The industry body blamed increased costs and reduced consumer demand for the closures, which it described as “the perfect storm”.
The announcement of the 48 closures was made as part of the RAI’s monthly closures list that it publishes each month. It said operational costs for small, local restaurants, cafés and food-serving pubs - which include energy, insurance and Vat, had increased significantly. It also pointed out that the rate of Vat rose from 9 per cent to 13.5 per cent in September.
