While acknowledging the importance of a constructive debate on licensing reform, Hospitality Ulster has consistently highlighted that the surrender principle has supported a varied and independent offering, unlike GB where circa 47% of pubs are owned by nine companies. It has also provided financial stability for business owners, and security for banks and financial institutions, maintaining market stability, and supporting public health objectives.

The sector continues to face unprecedented pressures, from the cost of products, the highest energy prices in Europe, disproportionately high VAT rates, and the highest business rates in payable in the UK. Unlike operators in England and Wales, Northern Ireland’s hospitality businesses receive no rates support. These mounting costs, combined with increased wages and Employer National Insurance Contributions, have placed enormous strain on pubs and bars across the region.

Hospitality Ulster’s latest survey of its members for Q4 2025 found that 43 per cent of respondents have reduced staff numbers and 70 per cent have cut employee hours since the introduction of tax increases in April 2025. Half of operators are pessimistic about their own business prospects over the next 12 months, while almost two-thirds take a negative view of the market overall. A fifth of operators operated at a loss in Q3 2025, with 82% of respondents performing worse than Q3 2024, while more than a quarter believe their business to be in danger of failure in over the next 12 months.

Hospitality Ulster has underlined that retaining the surrender principle provides much-needed certainty and stability to a sector already under significant financial pressure. The Minister’s decision sends a clear signal to operators and investors that existing businesses will not face additional destabilising changes at a time when many pubs are struggling due to the cost of doing business crisis.

Colin Neill, Chief Executive, Hospitality Ulster, said:

“The decision to not accept recommendations for reform of the surrender principle is a welcome and pragmatic decision by the Minister, which provides certainty for an industry that has faced enormous challenges. The surrender principle remains essential to supporting an independent rich sector, providing stability for business owners and supporting wider public health goals. The recommendations of this report only added to the uncertainty felt by hospitality operators, risking investment, jobs and the long-term sustainability of our pubs and their rejection is good news for the industry.

“At a time when many pubs are struggling to survive, it is right that the focus should be on supporting those businesses, not on the hypothetical creation of new ones or expensive unnecessary quangos. This decision allows us to focus on the real issues that are threatening the survival of pubs across Northern Ireland, and it is not the lack of additional pubs.

“Our Ulster/Irish pub is world renowned for its diversity, culture and quality, providing opportunities for people of all ages, gender and background to enter the industry and become the owner of their own business, unlike many other countries which are dominated by large chains.”

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Eat Wild promotes the use of wild game in cooking and hosted the contest in collaboration with the Craft Guild of Chefs.   Grace impressed the judges with her venison hotdog with smoked venison heart, and pheasant with lentils. She has won a handcrafted, cast-iron pan, a clay pigeon shooting lesson, and a day in the kitchen with Mark Kempson of Michelin-starred Kitchen W8 in London, followed by dinner for four people.  Mark Kempson is an advocate for cooking with wild food and the connection to nature that this brings.

Grace Dugan was competing against five other young chefs from around the UK.   All six finalists were awarded a three-year membership of the Craft Guild of Chefs, alongside a chef’s jacket and an Eat Wild apron.

Grace, who is 20 and from Belfast, is employed by The Culloden Hotel and has been studying at SERC Bangor Campus for four years, since starting on a Level 3 Diploma in Professional Cookery.

Chef Mark Kempson, announcing the result, commented that there was nothing he would change in Grace’s dishes, and said he hoped she would be able to take up her prize and join him in his restaurant for a day very soon.

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Over the years it has traded under several names, including The Sportsman’s Inn and Robbie Cahoon’s, but remained a familiar gathering place in the heart of the city.

Owners Majella and Martin Woods announced the closure in a message to customers, reflecting on their three decades behind the bar.

“After 30 unforgettable years it is now our time to say goodbye,” they wrote.

“To our customers, many of whom became friends over the years, it has been our absolute pleasure to be part of your lives,” they added.

“We’ve watched families grow, hosted birthdays, first dates turn into anniversaries, celebrated life’s milestones and shared countless laughs and memories. We appreciate all your support on our journey.

“To our amazing staff, past and present, none of this would have been possible without you. You created the magic that made this place feel like home to so many. We are indebted to you for your passion, talent and dedication.

“Though the doors are closing, the memories will always remain. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. Majella and Martin and all the Woods family.”

The couple also apologised to anyone with upcoming bookings, saying: “Our sincere apologies to anyone who has booked with us for dinner or any other event. We are working our way through contacting you. Unused vouchers purchased within the last year can be redeemed by emailing a copy of the voucher/gift receipt to thecraftyhound365@gmail.com by 8th November. We will be in touch to sort it out.”

The closure marks the end of more than a century of hospitality at one of Lisburn’s best-known pubs.

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The reopening marks a major milestone for the local community, which has long awaited the return of the historic riverside bar that was reduced to rubble in early 2022.

The blaze, which broke out overnight in January 2022, required more than a dozen fire appliances to bring under control. Fire investigators later confirmed the incident was accidental.

The original building, a long-standing landmark in the town for over a century, was left structurally unsafe and had to be demolished soon after.

In the years since, the owners have completely rebuilt the venue, with the new floorspace expanding from 6,600 square feet to almost 13,200.

The redesign includes a performance area, improved facilities, and a modern layout designed to meet the needs of today’s entertainment and leisure scene.

Announcing the reopening on social media, the owners wrote: “What fire took away, heart and hard work have rebuilt. These walls will come alive — with familiar faces, new stories, and moments that will one day become memories.” The Anchor Bar reopened to the public last week following a complete rebuild.

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In March 2025, CBRE Northern Ireland launched the sale of the leasehold interest in the 31-bedroom hotel, inviting offers “in the region of £500,000” for the remaining term and fixtures and fittings. Operated at the time by Botanic Way Ltd, part of Dublin-based hospitality group Nolaclan, the venue was marketed as a “well-established boutique hotel in a prime Belfast location,” offering a restaurant, multiple bars, café space and function rooms.

Alan Clancy, owner of Nolaclan, said at the time that House Belfast had become “a prominent part of the city’s hospitality landscape,” while CBRE’s Lisa McAteer described the sale as an opportunity to acquire a successful asset in a growing sector.

In August 2025, Botanic Way Ltd entered administration. Documents filed by KPMG show that the business was sold shortly afterwards to Havana Trading No. 3 Ltd, a company ultimately controlled by TJ Jennings and his family, who also own the property’s freehold. The total consideration recorded in the administrator’s report was £331,012, consisting of £65,000 in cash and the remainder largely reflecting rental arrears owed to the landlord.

KPMG’s filing valued the hotel’s fixtures and fittings at £60,000, stock at £4,994, and the intellectual property, including the House Belfast brand, social-media accounts and licences, at £1. The report states that the transaction enabled the business to continue trading, with the majority of staff retained. It also lists 52 unsecured creditors owed just over £900,000.

Originally trading as Madison’s Hotel, the Botanic Avenue property was purchased by Jennings from NAMA in 2016 for around £1.75 million and subsequently leased to Nolaclan, which invested approximately £2 million in a full refurbishment and rebranding as House Belfast in 2017.

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