Food business The Happy Pear has permanently closed two outlets and lost 39% of its employees as result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As reported by The Irish Times, The Happy Pear will not reopen its outlets at Dublin Airport and in the Dublin suburb of Clondalkin, which initially closed due to COVID-19-related business restrictions.
The company's outlet at the Shoreline leisure complex in Greystones, Co. Wicklow, is currently closed due to COVID-19-related business restrictions, but is planned to reopen when restrictions are lifted, and The Happy Pear's flagship outlet on Church Road in Greystones is currently operating with restrictions.
The Irish Times quotes The Happy Pear finance director Paul Murphy as saying, "As a result of the significant impact of COVID-19, we were forced to restructure our business and now have 72 active employees."
According to new accounts for The Happy Pear parent company Flynn & Flynn Global Trade Ltd, the company employed 118 people at the end of 2019.
Murphy added, "However, we hope [the company's employee count] will grow in 2021 upon the reopening of our Shoreline site and the return of normal trade in our Church Road site in Greystones."
Murphy also confirmed that The Happy Pear's Dublin Airport and Clondalkin outlets will not reopen, saying that the company's lease agreements for those outlet "have now been concluded", and said that the company was profitable at operating level during the last six months of 2020.
Post-Tax Loss
The aforementioned new accounts for Flynn & Flynn Global Trade Ltd reveal that the company's revenues amounted to €9.5 million in 2019, but it experienced a post-tax loss of €463,137 due to continued expansion costs. However, the company's 2019 post-tax loss was 31% less than the post-tax loss of €672,970 that it experienced in 2018.
The company's 2019 post-tax loss figure takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €214,025.
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