Vintners’ Federation of Ireland welcomes new president
John Clendennen, VFI President and owner of Giltraps Pub, Kinnitty, Co Offaly Picture Conor McCabe Photography.
Offaly man John Clendennen is the newly-elected and youngest ever president of the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland. Aside from his role with the VFI he runs a successful business in Kinnitty – Giltrap’s Pub and Glamping Accommodation. His aim is to highlight the huge importance of the “the Irish pub as an integral part of the Irish social fabric,” he says. Clendennen says that despite publicans showing a huge amount of “resilience and innovation” over the past few years, pubs face a “huge battle” to stay afloat and will need key state supports such as the retention of the 9% hospitality VAT rate and insurance reform.
However a recent survey conducted on behalf of the VFI showed that over 80% of publicans are confident their financial performance will be at least equal or improve in 2023 compared to last year so the mood is good as Clendennen faces into his new role.
Experience
A graduate of Shannon College of Hotel Management and Smurfit Business School
A graduate of Shannon College of Hotel Management and Smurfit Business School Clendennen spent years working in hotels across the world. He decided to come back to Offaly for a couple of years in between his travels but fast forward 10 years and he admits, “Kinnity got a hold of me!”
The Giltrap name goes back as far as 1898 and his father took over the pub in 1974. As the business grew, Clendennen and his sister Eleanor Clendennen saw the opportunities materialise. “My sister was a teacher in Dublin but decided to move home and join the business. She would be the general operations manager and I would be back office manager and looking at what’s coming down the line,” he explains.
“I suppose I realised there was a good commercial opportunity here and also that it wasn’t a bad lifestyle. I’ve been working for the past decade on a couple of local projects to try to attract business to the area and also we’ve expanded the pub on a number of occasions and we also introduced one of Ireland’s first glamping sites,” he says. Just a few weeks ago they added to the capacity of the glamping site with now over 50 beds. “Our core market is families, hen parties and corporate groups who want to get out and about to explore Offaly,” he explains.
The glamping site is right across the road from the pub so they cater for groups and organise everything for their stay including meals, DJs, bike trails and treasure hunts. “One of the larger projects that we have worked on in the last few years is Slieve Bloom Mountain Bike Trails. That has brought significant opportunities for the village with a new coffee shop and a couple of new bike shops opening on the back of it. We are bucking the trend about rural Ireland and businesses always closing,” he proudly states.
Highlighting issues
Clendennen is focused on diversity and inclusion and growing its membership
Clendennen has been involved with the VFI since 2016 and took up the role of chair of county Offaly a couple of years ago. Currently there are 3,500 members of the Vintners’ Federation and now as president, Clendennen is focused on diversity and inclusion and growing its membership.
“I’m the youngest president the VHI has ever elected and I think we’re in the space now where we need to just encourage more young people into the trade to have their voices heard.
“When you put yourself forward as president you have to evaluate your own performance. I was part of the Covid crisis response team and I hope we don’t reach anything of that magnitude again but at the time I worked on the working guidelines during Covid and I think the vast majority of publicans were very happy with the service that was provided during Covid by the Federation and the government saw us as a good sounding board,” he recalls.
He is intent on highlighting a number of issues that are affecting the trade including licencing laws, energy prices and staffing issues. “The Irish pub is a cultural institution, but publicans face a huge battle to keep their businesses viable over the coming years. There has to be engagement. The sale of alcohol bill is going to be critical and we’re ready to engage with government as it unfolds over the next number of months or however long it takes,” he vows.
“We also need to look at the cost of doing business today, whether that be energy bills or insurance or the costs of new regulations – these are all matters we need to assist members with and try to provide support in those areas.”
Sale of Alcohol Bill
“What could actually happen with deregulation is rather than having one good pub in a small town or village, you could end up having multiple pubs and it will potentially lead to more closures.”
One of the main issues on the agenda is the Sale of Alcohol Bill coming down the line which will have a significant impact on publicans. There are a number of pieces in the extensive bill that Clendennen says the VFI are particularly concerned about.
“I think the two stand-out pieces that we need clarity and discussion on are the whole licencing extinguishment piece and cultural venues. What could actually happen with deregulation is rather than having one good pub in a small town or village, you could end up having multiple pubs and it will potentially lead to more closures,” he believes. “You have to remember too that a lot of these pubs are institutions and they’ve been around for generations. A building itself might have character going back decades and you could potentially see the closure of a building that holds the culture and the heritage of that village or town for so many years and I think it should be about protecting existing pubs,” he says.
Also the Federation is concerned about the proposal that cultural venues will be given the right to sell alcohol yet they feel that this will not be a level playing field considering the amount of compliance pubs are required to have in order to trade. “A cultural venue could mean that a community centre or any venue you like can open up and sell alcohol and our point of view is that we need an equal playing field from the pubs perspective in terms of insurance, fire safety etc. We need to see a lot more clarity and regulation around what is eligible to be a space like that,” he states.
Overcoming staffing issues
“To attract staff you have to be competitive with pay but I think really it’s about providing good conditions and a great working environment.”
Clendennen also acknowledges the challenges that the industry is currently facing in respect of staff recruitment and retention.
“Covid changed the mind-set of people and some decided they didn’t want to work late at night anymore. Over the last couple of years the Vintners have been involved in establishing a new apprenticeship programme in association with Griffith College Dublin and that has been initially successful. We need to see this type of activity to entice people into the trade. We need to get across that it can be a great experience and something you can bring with you across the world. To attract staff you have to be competitive with pay but I think really it’s about providing good conditions and a great working environment. The days of looking just solely at an hourly rate are gone,” he says.
The other pertinent issue on his mind is to maintain the current VAT rate at 9%. “This is crucial to the pub trade and the wider hospitality sector,” says Clendennen.
As he faces into the first month of his tenure he says that he accepted this role as he knows that he can do some good and he can afford the time that is required for such a role.
“It’s a huge opportunity and I’m humbled that the members have put their faith in me but I’m looking forward to the challenge at the same time,” he says. We wish him the best of luck!
