Hospitality

The ups and downs of hospitality: massive staff shortages, high demand and 6 quid pints…

Brian O'Neill on May 14, 2021, 7:48 am

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As our bars, restaurants and hotels start to come out of cold storage they have a whole new set of challenges. The main one is a massive shortage of staff at all levels. There has always been a shortage of chefs but this has now expanded to most roles, especially at the lower end. Talking to people in the industry there seems to be a few things going on. We used a lot of immigrant labour to plug the gaps, …

Today the pubs and restaurants can reopen – will you be back?

Brian O'Neill on July 3, 2020, 7:57 am

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After 4 months of lockdown, our pubs and restaurants are now allowed to reopen – with the usual social distancing caveats. Some aspects of the ‘new normal’ just sound awful. Barriers between tables, masked staff and customers, allocated times etc. They don’t make for a relaxing night out. I have always tended to eat out at lunchtime and this will continue to be my strategy going forward. I never understand why more people don’t eat out more at lunchtime – …

Have we really reached full employment in Northern Ireland?

Brian O'Neill on May 10, 2018, 10:45 am

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Ulster Bank economist Richard Ramsey has suggested that Northern Ireland is now “effectively at full employment” as the latest official figures showed the unemployment rate was 3.5% in the three months between December and February 2018. This is quite a drop from the over 20% we had in the 1980s. Northern Ireland has traditionally been associated with high unemployment so this is quite a turnaround. Now as always there are some caveats, the BBC reports: The inactivity rate in Northern Ireland stands …

Farewell to “Backwards Belfast”

W[r]ite Noise on January 18, 2015, 10:27 am

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According to Belfast Telegraph, local restaurateur Emma Bricknell is, apparently, leaving us for good. It’s not her, it’s us. We are ‘a laughing stock‘. We are ‘backwards’. She has found somewhere else, somewhere sunnier. Apparently the break up is long overdue. Bricknell is the owner of three city centre restaurants, two branches of Made in Belfast and Le Coop on Hill Street. I have been to Made in Belfast exactly twice. Personally I was not a fan. Neither was Joris …

I don’t rate business rates

Kris Nixon (Belfast Barman) on December 2, 2014, 4:53 pm

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It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a business in possession of a premises must be in want of customers and an extra few bills to pay. Every property in the land pays rates of some description, which is fair enough because there are a lot of things to pay for! Except…we still have to pay for lots of other things that the average household gets included in their lot. I can’ t necessarily speak for industries other than my …