NOffLA Speaks: NOffLA Strategy 2015

NOffLA has appointed Evelyn Jones as its Government Affairs director

The association outlines its plans and objectives for the year ahead

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2014 was another busy year for NOffLA and its members. The organisation continued to engage with relevant government, business and community stakeholders across Ireland to promote the responsible retailing of alcohol and a sustainable SME business environment for independent retailers.

Building on the activity of 2013, NOffLA worked throughout 2014 with industry colleagues to campaign for a reduction in the level of excise on alcohol. The association also continued to call for a ban on below cost selling and the enactment of sections 9 and 16 of the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2008. NOffLA continued to call for the provision of a realistic minimum unit price of 70 cent and stricter provision around the retailing of alcohol, staff training and customer proof of age identification, all of which would promote the safe sale and consumption of alcohol.

Looking to 2015, NOffLA has a number of priorities that will focus its engagement with government and relevant stakeholders, including:

• No increase in the excise duty on alcohol and a reduction in the current rate
• The introduction of a minimum unit price on alcohol of 70 cent per unit
• The introduction of a statutory code of practice that would bring an end to below cost selling of alcohol and promote responsible advertisement and retailing practices
• Continue to promote the need for accredited mandatory training for all alcohol retailers and official proof of age for anyone purchasing alcohol

2015 will see a number of changes within NOffLA’s management structure. As the organisation has evolved, these changes will allow NOffLA to build on the good work achieved at local, regional and national level.

Gary O’Donovan of O’Donovan Off-Licence in Cork will become chairman. Founder of the Cork Wine School and a WSET lecturer, O’Donovan is a former vice-chairman of NOffLA and will bring over 20 years of experience to the role.

Cathal McHugh of McHugh’s Off-Licences will assume the role of vice-chairman. As a long-standing NOffLA council member, he will bring a wealth of experience from across the alcohol, services, retailing and SME sector to the role.

As part of these changes, Evelyn Jones has taken the decision to step back from her role as chairperson to take up a new role as government affairs director. This position will see Jones remain actively involved in the organisation, but given the importance of the impending Public Health Bill and budgetary matters in 2015 it was felt necessary that she focus her energy on directly engaging with government, media and relevant stakeholders on behalf of NOffLA members.

Gary O’Donovan – Chairman

Gary O’Donovan

Gary O’Donovan has over 20 years of experience in the drinks industry, having taken over the O’Donovan Off-Licence group on the death of his father, Joe O’Donovan, in 2003. He has since guided the business to become one of the biggest independent off-licence groups in Ireland.

O’Donovan believes that product knowledge is essential to success in the independent off-trade. “Unless you know the product, you can’t sell it,” he says. He became a member of the Champagne Academy in 1994 and was awarded the WSET Diploma in 1995. He is responsible for the very successful Annual Cork Wine Fair and opened the Cork Wine School in 2010, after 15 years lecturing for the Wine Development Board of Ireland. Gary has also travelled widely across all the major wine regions.

As the youngest of Joe O’Donovan’s four children, he hadn’t intended joining the family business. O’Donovan graduated with a BA in Economics and Sociology in 1991 and planned to take a year off to travel the world. However, his father had other ideas and invited Gary to join him in the business by setting up their second off-licence in Summerhill. O’Donovan has never looked back and has spent much of the time since then cultivating the company’s branch network throughout Cork city and county with personal responsibility for the wine end of the business.

Gary O’Donovan is committed to the National Off-Licence Association and has rowed in behind NOffLA from day one. He has been a member of the association’s council and executive for several years and became vice-chairman in 2010. He feels that the association “gives a unified voice on behalf of the trade” and believes that this is also important for suppliers as they recognise that “there is a professional trade to be catered for”. The Cork businessman sees the Off-Licence of the Year as a major industry tool: “This allows us to keep up with the rest. You need to pitch yourself against the best and see where you’re at. The awards raise the bar and we aspire to go with the rising standards. The Off-Licence of the Year is the vehicle that allows us to check our progress.”

O’Donovan has been very active in the drinks industry’s Support Your Local campaign and is in no doubt about the importance of the industry within local economies across the country. He has spoken about the “huge contribution” the alcohol industry makes in Cork, and the “worrying trend” of employment figures in every sector declining in recent years: “Over 3,000 jobs have been lost in the independent off-licence sector since 2008, while in the last year alone, 18 independent off-licences have shut down.”

In his new role as NOffLA chairman, he is particularly keen to outlaw below-cost selling and to see the enactment of sections 9 and 16 of the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2008. He also looks forward to developing closer ties between NOffLA members and their suppliers, identifying the common purposes of both parties. O’Donovan looks forward to growing the membership base, including the recruitment of some of the bigger independent retailers.

Cathal McHugh – Vice-chairman

Cathal McHugh

Cathal McHugh has been in the independent off-trade for 20 years, since joining the family business after he completed three years of Business Studies at college. The McHugh Group operates four Centra supermarkets, two independent off-licences and a restaurant on Dublin’s northside. McHugh manages the independent off-licence business and restaruant within the group. The McHugh Group has won numerous awards, including the NOffLA Off-Licence of the Year in 2006 and 2007.

Having completed three years of Business Studies, McHugh joined the family business in 1993, where he spent two years in the grocery and off-licence area before establishing their first stand-alone off-licence. The McHugh family has been in the off-trade all of Cathal McHugh’s life with an off-trade section to their grocery shop in Artane since 1963.

McHugh believes that awards like NOffLA’s Off-Licence of the Year provide a valuable opportunity to improve your own business, particularly as an independent retailer: “As an independent off-licence, we need standards and benchmarks against which we can measure our own performance.”

Having participated successfully in the awards for many years, he has seen the “criteria honed and a significant rise in everyone’s standards”. He strongly acknowledges the shift in standards when he explains: “In the early years, you could nearly pick out the shortlist yourself, but now people are focusing more on standards and it has become more difficult to compete successfully.”

McHugh’s advice to those wishing to do well in the awards is to look to the detail. “The criteria are so detailed, it’s best to examine each one individually and attempt to improve in that aspect separately. This means that you often improve in an area that you wouldn’t have even considered yourself.” Despite his enthusiasm for the awards, Cathal is not distracted from his primary motivation. “You’ve got to keep an eye on the fact that preparing for this award is for the business and the customers. This is about driving the business forward and constantly trying to improve. It’s all about improving your bottom line.”

Evelyn Jones – Government Affairs director

L-R: Tim Fenn, chief executive, Irish Hotels Federation; Tom O’Brien, chairperson, Licensed Vintners Association; Evelyn Jones, chairperson, National Off-Licence Association; Gerry Rafter, president, Vintners Federation Ireland; and Padraic Og Gallagher, president, Restaurants Association of Ireland at the launch of ‘Support Your Local’

Evelyn Jones has been chairperson of the National Off-Licence Association since 2010, having worked within the organisation since joining the off-licence trade in 1991. She has always been interested in wine. It was not surprising, therefore, that, having completed her business studies and accountancy courses, she would combine her interest and her business ambition. Jones took over The Vintry off-licence in Rathgar in 1991 and, having transformed the outlet, has worked consistently to be amongst the very best independent off-licences in the country. The Vintry has won many specialist and regional awards during that time, including the NOffLA Off-Licence of the Year in 2002 and 2008.

Jones has been involved in NOffLA from the outset, serving on the association’s executive for most of that time. She is passionate about her business and has been particularly effective in expressing that passion to decision-makers and others who influence the environment in which the independent off-trade exists. She has represented NOffLA and the drinks industry on a number of Oireachtas Committee hearings, where her knowledge of the sector and her unambiguous commitment to responsible trading has shifted the mind-set of legislators, motivating them to act.

While welcoming the government’s decision not to increase excise duty, Jones has no doubt about the importance of continued pressure for further reform: “Since 2008, 544 off-licences have closed or lapsed with the loss of 3,000 jobs across the industry. While the Budget 2015 announcement is very positive we will continue to engage with the relevant stakeholders to represent the interests of our members, independent business owners embedded in communities across the country.”

Jones also had a broader perspective on Department of Finance decisions: “We believe the government has an opportunity going forward to further strengthen the SME sector, bring stability to communities and address important public health concerns through the introduction of a ban on the below-cost selling of alcohol. The availability of cheap alcohol as a means to drive footfall in multiples encourages irresponsible retailing and is a threat to the broader community through alcohol abuse and anti-social behaviour. Furthermore, such a ban would save the exchequer €24 million per annum.”

Jones is very clear that her role is not just about the financial benefit of the independent off-trade, but to a genuine commitment to the philosophy of responsible trading: “We are also calling on the government to introduce a minimum unit price on alcohol to discourage deep discounting and promote responsible retailing. As part of this activity, we will continue to work for the introduction of mandatory accredited industry training as well as the requirement of everyone, regardless of age, to produce identification when purchasing alcohol.”

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