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Celebrity chef Richard Corrigan said that the hospitality industry in Ireland is in store for “a phenomenal re-awakening” when the sector re-opens this summer.
Mr Corrigan was speaking after revealing that business at his London retuarant, Bentley’s in Piccadilly, has been “fantastic” since it started derving customer on its terrace since Monday, 12th April, following the easing of Covid restrictions in England.
“I have to say that before we opened, I was shaking with nerves – genuinely, I didn’t know how it was going to go, ” the Meath-born chef said.
“We were such a long time closed, you start to lose confidence – it does hammer you but I have to say the numbers we have had since we have re-opened have been phenomenal.”
Venue
Mr Corrigan said that his London pub, Daffodil Mulligans, is  re-opening on a phased basis while Corrigans Mayfair will re-open in June.
He said that, for his businesses in London and his wedding and corporate events venue, Virginia Park Lodge in Cavan, 2020 “is best forgotten. It was a once in a lifetime experience, we couldn’t do this twice in a row.”
Revenues at his group declined by 95 per cent in 2020 due to Covid, he said.  
“We opened for three weeks for the whole year.  A week and a half in October and a week and a half in December,” he pointed out. Mr Corrigan confirmed that he received his AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine two weeks ago
With wedding numbers capped at 25 last summer in Ireland, Mr Corrigan said that the business at Virginia Park Lodge “was just performing a service”. 
Mr Corrigan was peaking afer reporting that pre-tax profits at the group increased more than four fold to £118,802 (€138,113) in 2019.
Accounts for Richard Corrigan Restaurants (Holdings) Ltd  show that revenues at the business increased 4.6 per to £11.03 million.
The accounts also show that confirm that revenue at Virginia Park Lodgincre from £2.67 million to £2.89 million in 2019.
Pub
Revenues at Mr Corrigan’s restaurants and pub business in London increased from £7.87 million to £8.14 million in 2019.
Mr Corrigan said that 2019 “was a good year. Revenues were up and of course, staff costs went up. It will be a while – 18 months to two years – before we get back to that level”.
The accounts show that revenues from catering totalled €6.28 million with beverage income at £3.9 million while ‘other’ income stood at £840,764.
Mr Corrigan stated that the 2019 growth in business was “cruelly cut short” last year by Covid-19. 
Staff costs went from £3.69 million to £3.9 million as staff numbers increased from 183 to 193.
The profit takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of £644,356 while lease charges increased from €808,198 to £863,351.
The group’s shareholder funds stood at £1.16 million as the group’s cash funds increased from £1.1 million to £1.77 million.