Bewley’s to shut over ‘crippling rents’

Legacy boom-time rents such as those which Bewley’s Café on Grafton Street in Dublin is locked into are a huge drain on retailers and remain a massive concern for the sector, according to a retail representative body.

Despite a large drop-off in rental prices since the economic crash, many retailers are continuing to pay large rents agreed prior to the recession — often due to upward-only rent review provisions in their tenancy contracts.

“On the issue of upward only rent reviews, it’s something that we’ve long called for a review on. Boom-time rents are still a feature for a number of large retailers and it is a huge drain on them and their resources so it’s obviously still a massive concern,” said Retail Ireland director, Thomas Burke.