Q&A with Tiarnán O’Neill | Group Finance Director at Galgorm Collection

Managing Partner Eugene caught up with Tiarnán to chat about how the recent Budget announcements will affect the hospitality industry, as well as the exciting news of Galgorm’s recent acquisitions of Galgorm Castle Estate and The Roe Park Resort.

Great to see the announcement of Roe Park and Galgorm Estate joining Galgorm Collection. Tell us a bit about the idea behind the acquisitions and what we can all look forward to in future.

As a group we’re always looking for the next opportunity, we’re big into the leisure market and the next natural stage in our growth story will be looking at golf assets. We’ve made a strategic decision to go into the golf market, hence the purchase of Galgorm Castle Estate and we do have very exciting plans for it in the future. The Roe Park Resort came on the market quite unexpectedly for us. When we looked at the 120-bedroom hotel, and another golf course, it just seemed like the right fit, particularly when we look at what we could develop in it and grow the family-friendly offering that it has and add it to our golf offering.

Do you feel the change of government has resulted in more opportunities, with the changes which were predicted, and then announced in the recent budget?

It forced a lot of business owners to look at their assets that they had and whether they are going to keep them or invest them. The uncertainty over the increase in capital gains tax, what it’s going to be increased to, and when is she going to do it from, it could happen overnight.

That brought a lot of opportunities to the table sooner rather than they might have come. From the vendors perspective, it was essential that these deals got done before the budget on 30^th October. Particularly with The Roe Park coming to the market more recently, it put a lot of pressure on to get those deals done and to mitigate any potential tax liability that might have arisen. We got both deals done by the date, but I suppose we didn’t know where that rate was going to, and it could have doubled, it didn’t, it only went up by 4%, but it was important for us to do our part and the teams that we surrounded ourselves with, including yourselves.

How do you feel the announced changes to employer’s National Insurance and the National Living Wage will impact the hospitality sector?

The changes have been massive. We did expect an increase in employer’s NIC, but what we didn’t expect was the decrease in the threshold. So, while the increase in the percentage has had a material impact on us, a good few £100,000, we’ll have to take it off our bottom line or have to try to find that decrease in the threshold. If we need to recruit, we’ll still recruit, but if people leave, they might not necessarily be replaced. I suppose for all hospitality businesses, especially restaurants and sole traders where their margins are very tight, I can see it having a huge impact in terms of how those businesses move forward and ultimately whether they survive or not.

Watch Video Q&A here!