Full coverage: Hospitality

The private equity firm’s purchase of the health food chain is just the first salvo in a bigger plan to scoop up several more hospitality businesses.

Peter Burke is asking voters to choose between tax breaks for restaurants or middle income earners. As a Fine Gael TD, this makes sense, but as enterprise minister, this is leaving hospitality entrepreneurs puzzled.

In the second of a two-part series, Stuart Fitzgerald says analysis of data from typical Irish pharmacy, grocery, restaurant and pub businesses shows that SMEs’ viability is under increasing strain — and is set to get worse.

The hotel industry is a microcosm of the wider economy. At first glance, it seems to be thriving. However, the more you peel it back, the more vulnerabilities emerge.

McSorley’s is known as a place to watch rugby games, and now a group of former players is buying it. They outbid a private equity firm to secure it.

The €260m sale of the Dublin luxury hotel to Archer marks the end of opportunities to add value to an asset snapped up for just €111m before renovation a decade ago.

Many hotels, restaurants and pubs are shutting down, but just as many are changing hands or refinancing – and some are expanding. Volatility is causing merciless change across the industry.

The Red Cow hospitality business has raised €70 million to refinance its debt, with additional backing from a family investment in residential property.

The international market for renting apartments is rapidly expanding. One of its leading lights is Staycity, the Dublin-based company started in a former recording studio where U2 once worked. Under its co-founder Tom Walsh, it is planning even further expansion.

Dublin City Council has refused planning permission for central hotel developments on the grounds that they’re not needed in the areas, missing the point that failure to build hotel rooms puts renewed pressure on existing housing stocks.