70 vacant shop units in Ennis

THERE are currently 70 vacant units in Ennis not paying commercial rates, it has emerged. Recent weeks have seen an increase in the numbers of retail outlets closed in the town.

Among the outlets to close their doors have been the Mace on Station Road, Roxy Records and Petit Pois, while Little Silvermines has launched a closing-down sale.
According to Ennis Chamber CEO Rita McInerney, businesses are “fighting for survival” in the current economic climate.
“We’ve seen about seven or eight closures around the town recently. This is the time of year for that attrition, businesses have had their Christmas and they’ve been affected by the lower spend. They’ve also been affected by the weather coming up to Christmas, which has certainly affected the retail trade. The retail trade is under huge pressure,” she commented.
Ms McInerney added that she hoped the worst is over for businesses in the town. “I would hope not to see any more closures and that we have seen the worst of it. But unless we support local businesses and local jobs there well could be more.”
She believes that the situation in Ennis is typical of other towns across the country. “I don’t think we’re any worse than any other town. We have a lot going for us and I think the fact that we are positioned between two cities has probably stood to our advantage. We didn’t see an influx of high-street stores, some of which have gone to the wall.
According to Ms McInerney, Ennis saw nearly 30 new businesses open last year, although she admitted, “that doesn’t necessarily make up for businesses that have closed. The older, more established businesses have built up a following. What should be done is that as well as encouraging start-ups, work should be done on maintaining the businesses we already have and support them”.
She said that in recent times many business people have stopped taking a wage in order to keep costs down as well as bringing in other cost-saving measures. “But now we’re getting to the stage where they’ve cut their costs as much as they can. Businesses now need to grow and we need to help them do that.”
Ms McInerney insisted that Ennis Chamber would do whatever it takes to help local businesses, whether they are members of the organisation or not. “Anybody who is having difficulties should contact us and we can put them in touch with others that can help, for example, the Small Business Advice Bureau is a free service for businesses giving solid, hands-on advice,” she said.
She encouraged business owners to contact local authorities to discuss the issue of rates. “The rates haven’t gone up this year, but all our other costs have. This isn’t just a local issue, it’s a national one. There needs to be a change in how local government is funded so that it doesn’t always come back to the business owner to make up the shortfall.”
She commented that along with the Chamber, business organisations, government organisations and the local authorities are “all in this together”.
“We all have responsibilities to support the business community because at the end of the day business equals jobs and jobs equal people being able to survive, to put food on the table and have a sense of purpose.”
She described how the current climate is having a “huge knock-on effect on the psyche of the country”.
“We’ve 400,000 people unemployed, 100,000 emigrated, it’s a serious situation and I just hope that the next government hits the ground running in terms of jobs and getting people back to work. There are simple things the next government should be doing including supporting the self-employed, free PRSI to encourage employing new people and there should be changes to the liquidation laws. The fact that Revenue and the banks get paid first and not the suppliers down the line is ridiculous. That has a domino effect. Let the government take the hit in order for the small businesses to be paid.”