The Pav has recorded their highest income in 5 years with food and drink sales nearing pre-recession levels. However, Professor Cyril Smyth, Chairman of the Pavilion Bar Committee, has said that unforeseen weather conditions led to a drop in retained earnings for the year. Speaking at last night’s Dublin University Central Athletic Committee (DUCAC) AGM, Smyth urged all in attendance to use the Pav more frequently to compensate for seasonal lows.
Smyth highlighted the effect that adverse weather had on the Pav’s sales for the year ending June 30. Events, such as Hurricane Ophelia last October and Storm Emma in March of this year, forced the bar to unexpectedly close. Storm Emma had a particularly negative effect on gross income for March, which was down €40,000 on last year’s figures. Smyth reflected that while this year it was unexpected, he confessed that: “weather is quite clearly going to play a role in the future, we can’t budget for that.”
Other unplanned expenditure included the refurbishment of the floors behind the bar and in the kitchen. Smyth explained that Health Service Executive (HSE) inspectors were concerned about the state of the kitchen floor, so the repairs were necessary. However, he admitted “it was a bigger job than we expected.” In total, refurbishment costs equated to €12,274.
DUCAC also paid Santry sports grounds €250,000, according to Smyth, this debt was serviced with funds from the Pav’s reserves.
In total, the Pav reported losses of over €30,000, although Smyth assured those in attendance that while: “it seems that the Pav has run at a loss. However, the Pav refurbishment had not been budgeted for.”
Food and drink sales were up by 2.77% and 4.86% respectively. The increases see the levels for this year close in on the 2007-2008 figures. Smyth also said that the profitability of food and drink was approximately 60%, which he believed: “is the benchmark that we try to achieve.” Gross income for this year were recorded at €656,316, with additional income of €21,782 from electronic advertising boards within the bar.
Smyth also expressed his dissatisfaction at the bar’s closure during the Trinity Summer Series concerts in July 2018. Smyth explained that as there were already vendors licensed to sell alcohol at the concerts, the Pav was not allowed to operate during the events. As well as being a missed opportunity, Smyth said that the bar were forced to give staff their annual leave during the week, amounting to €25,000- €30,000 in expenses.
In order to compensate for the losses, Smyth encouraged the members of the clubs to continue to avail of the Pav: “What we need to improve the profitability of the Pavillion Bar is regular student spending,” urging, “anybody who has joined a club to spend €5-10 per week,” at the student bar. He insisted that this measure could massively increase the profits and compensate for the 25 weeks when the students are not around.
The Pavilion bar was founded in 1961 and is the only bar on Trinity campus. All of the profits go to support sports clubs in the college through DUCAC.
Additional reporting by Victoria Mitchell and Aaron Reen.
