Politics

Small business owner: ‘The recession was swallowing us up’

Meet the Voters: Kate Lawlor pays tax and PRSI. ‘It is unfair there is no social welfare for me’

Kate Lawlor, the proprietor and head chef at Fenn’s Quay restaurant, said the banks were ‘crawling all over us looking for payments’.
Kate Lawlor, the proprietor and head chef at Fenn’s Quay restaurant, said the banks were ‘crawling all over us looking for payments’.
Thu Feb 11 2016 - 01:31

[ Meet the Voters series ]

I am the proprietor and head chef at Fenn's Quay restaurant in Cork City. We are a small restaurant, employing 16 people between part and full-time.

In 2008 I bought the business with two other partners. It seemed like a great investment but the crash happened just months later.

Trying to get through the recession was very challenging. I didn’t want to let anyone go, because a small business is like a family, but as staff moved on we couldn’t afford to replace them.

As times got tougher my partners exited the business. It felt like the recession was swallowing us up.

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I got some great advice from some chef colleagues - those support networks helped me turn the business around. But not once did any government agency step forward and say they wanted to help a small businesses like mine.

The banks were crawling all over us looking for payments. Access to credit was particularly hard and remains a struggle.

Business has picked up in the past two years; my accountant is finally happy with me.

Christmas was good, but the quiet times are still very quiet. We make most of our money at weekends.

When candidates call to my door, I will be asking what they plan to do for small businesses? One of the main boosts in recent years was VAT rate cut to 9 per cent for the service industry. It is vital that the next government retains this.

Cork City Council is proposing to raise their rates. We have already had an increase in the minimum wage in January. I'm not saying staff don't deserve to be paid a decent wage, but it is an added pressure.

We no longer have flood cover after the restaurant was flooded in 2009. The cost of the damage to the building was €50,000, yet our premiums are going up. This is also an issue I will be raising on the doorstep.

I have usually voted Fine Gael or Labour. Local is more important to me than national.

Fine Gael has young energetic candidates. This is where Labour is lacking. The old guard of Micheal Martin and Enda Kenny need to be replaced. Martin is acting as if the crash never happened.

This election is wide open and it is an important year with the 1916 centenary. It could be quite an emotional vote for people who have family connections with the main parties. My great grand-uncle was one of the members of the first Dáil.

Financial support for the self employed and housing are important issues for me.

If I had to close my doors tomorrow, I wouldn’t be entitled to social welfare. That was a huge concern for me during the recession. I would have had to emigrate. Yet I pay my taxes and my PRSI. It seems very unfair that there’s no backup for people who lose their businesses.

I rent a one-bedroom apartment and had to find a new place this year. The price of rent is astronomical. High rents make it harder for our generation to save, especially with all the extra bills like water charges. The chances of me getting a mortgage as a self-employed person are slim to none.

Constituency: Cork South-Central

Kate Lawlor was in conversation with Ciara Kenny

[ irishtimes.com/election-2016/meet-the-voters ]