Copper Face Jacks lost €20.7m in revenue during two years of the pandemic

New accounts show that last year, the nightclub’s firm, Breanagh Catering, clocked up average daily nightclub revenues of €26,721.

Covid-19 restrictions meant that Copper Face Jacks was only permitted to open on 51 days in the 12 months to the end of January this year.

The accounts for Cathal and Paula Jackson’s Breanagh Catering show that it recorded nightclub revenues of €1.33m last year.

The Jackson Court Hotel on Dublin’s Harcourt Street houses Copper Face Jacks. Breanagh Catering recorded a further €63,632 in accommodation sales.

The nightclub reopened to much fanfare on October 22 last year after being closed for 18 months due to Covid-19.

However, with the spread of the Omicron variant it was forced to shut its doors again in early December, before reopening on a full-time basis from January 27 of this year.

The business recorded revenues of €1.39m last year, which means it sustained a revenue hit of around €10.2m on pre-Covid revenues of €11.6m. This followed a revenue hit of €10.5m during the first year of the pandemic.

The Covid-19 shutdown resulted in pre-tax losses of €522,782 last year, which was about €990,000 down on pre-tax losses of €1.51m in the prior year.

The directors state that the financial year ending January of this year “has been a very challenging period, with the business fully closed for 10 months of the financial year”.

On an upbeat note, the directors state that they have now fully reopened the nightclub in accordance with Government guidelines and they “look forward to the future”.

Numbers employed by the business last year more than halved from 80 to 36, with staff costs reducing from €1.99m to €1.72m. Pre-Covid employee numbers totalled 173.

Pay to directors reduced from €381,393 to €254,832.

Last year, the company received “other operating income” of €789,239.

The loss takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €707,682.

It recorded a post-tax loss of €333,487 after recording a corporation tax gain of €189,295.

At the end of January 2022, the company’s accumulated funds totalled €10.32m. Its cash pile increased sharply from €122,269 to €1.17m.

Mr Jackson set up Copper Face Jacks in February 1996 and he put the business up for sale in March 2019, with industry sources at the time speculating the business might fetch €40m.

However, staff were told in a company memo in November 2019 that it was no longer for sale as Mr Jackson had “decided to stay actively involved in the business”.