Chris Heinhold: Would a reduced Vat rate have saved my restaurant? Probably not
Chris Heinhold and Emer Kelly in West cafe, Bantry, in July 2021. Picture: Andy Gibson
Chris Heinhold: a bankrupt. Six months after closing the doors of our Bantry cafe, West, for the last time, the letter declaring my new identity arrived. After seven years of trying to keep a much-loved business afloat, it was no small thing for it to end in defeat.
I began working in hospitality straight out of school at 17. Bar and restaurant work took me around the world, and it allowed me to extend a visa in New Zealand under their skilled worker scheme.
