Press Up restored Dublin’s 1923-built Stella Cinema
The Stella, The Dean, The Workman’s. Anyone who has socialised in our capital is likely to have visited one of these venues – without necessarily knowing they were run by the same people. After becoming a dominant player in the hospitality scene, the future of the Press Up Hospitality Group of bars, restaurants and hotels is now in doubt.
Paddy McKillen Jr, the co-founder of Press Up, Ireland’s largest hospitality group, has said he is “delighted” to be staying involved following its takeover by Cheyne Capital. A deal is being finalised whereby the London-based lender is taking control of Press Up, and injecting fresh capital. It is understood that while agreement has been reached, the deal has not been signed.
In one of its first moves, however, Cheyne has appointed KPMG’s Shane McCarthy and Cormac O’Connor as receivers to three restaurant chains within the Press Up group.
The Instagrammable empire once stretched to 117 outlets across Ireland, and had even flirted with a stock market flotation back in 2018. Its model seemed to be unique, if not unusual, for the restaurant industry, blending property development into the mix of burger chains, nightclubs, cinemas and fast-casual restaurants.
Today on The Indo Daily, Fionnán Sheahan is joined by John Burns, deputy business editor with Mediahuis Ireland, and by Kirsty Blake Knox, features journalist with the Irish Independent, to discuss where did it all go wrong for Press Up and what does it tell us about the future of nightlife in Ireland?
The Indo Daily: Press Up going down? What went wrong for Irish hospitality giant
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