'Covid was a disaster for us': Charlie Chawke laments 'lost customers' from pandemic

Revenues across Charlie Chawke's Limerick and two Dublin pubs doubled to almost €10.2m.

One of the country’s best-known publicans, Charlie Chawke, said his group’s lunchtime trade continues to be impacted by the covid-19-related loss of customers.

Mr Chawke said revenues at the group's lunchtime business is currently down "a good 30% to 40%".

"A lot of people died in the covid and you can feel it in the food business especially — the lunch trade is gone quieter and that is when they would be out," he said

God bless them all — we don’t see the faces anymore which is very sad. It is a terrible situation that covid — it wiped the country clean nearly — as bad as the TB years ago.

Mr Chawke said he did not know whether the 'lost customers’ "are all dead or just don’t come in anymore but I do notice a lot of them have passed away — the elderly people. They are just not around."

Mr Chawke made his remarks when commenting on new consolidated accounts for the Old Orchard and the Dropping Well pubs in Dublin and the award-winning Aunty Lena’s bar in Adare, Co Limerick, where combined revenues last year almost doubled from €5.5m to €10.2m.

The accounts for Miltown Inns Ltd and its subsidiaries show the group recorded a pre-tax loss of €1m after incurring a €2m non-cash write-down in the value of tangible assets. 

'It’s tough'

Mr Chawke said: "It’s tough. Covid was a disaster for us and we are fighting back and doing okay.” 

The pubs are three of the pubs in the nine-pub-strong family-owned Chawke pub group and Mr Chawke said: "Business is nearly back to what it was before the covid but it is hard work.” 

He said revenues were up last year because the pubs were closed for almost half of 2021 due to covid-19 restrictions.

He added the Christmas party trade “is not what it was”.

The Old Orchard in Rathfarnham is Ireland’s most expensive pub and was purchased for €22m in 2005.

The Milltown Inns accounts show the company recorded an operating loss of €730,738 and €292,023 in interest payments resulting in the pre-tax loss of €1.02m.

The business received €1.44m in other operating income that included €992,266 in Government support schemes.

The pre-tax loss also takes account of combined non-cash depreciation and amortisation costs of €529,334. Staff numbers increased from 93 to 143 as staff costs rose from €2.13m to €4.11m. Shareholder funds totalled €4.08m.