Losses mount at the exclusive members-only Residence club
The Dublin venue, owned by millionaire Olivia Gaynor-Long, is nearly €2m in the red.
MEMBERS-ONLY DUBLIN venue Residence, owned by businesswoman Olivia Gaynor-Long, saw losses climb to just under €2 million last year, although it is hoping for profits in the near future.
Established in 2008, Residence is a favourite haunt of celebrities and socialites. The Dublin-based club charges annual fees of about €850 for membership. Last year the company said it had over 1,000 members.
Accounts just filed for the company, formerly operated by the Stokes brothers, show that at the end of 2014 it had accumulated losses of almost €1.9 million, up from €1.5 million the year before.
The accounts also say that it made a loss of €145,279, which would bring its total deficit to just over €2 million. Despite the losses the company was upbeat about the future, predicting that it would make a profit in 2016.
It also noted that its ultimate shareholder, Gaynor-Long, has pledged her financial support for another 12 months. Gaynor-Long, the company’s sole shareholder, bought the club in 2010 from a receiver after the identical Stokes twins, Simon and Christian, ran into financial hardship.
Olivia Gaynor-Long
The pair, who also ran Bang Cafe, were declared bankrupt last year. They were strongly criticised in court after it emerged that they had not been passing on the tax and PRSI payments of Residence’s 58 employees to the Revenue Commissioners, which left them with a bill of over €1.2 million.
Wealth
Gaynor-Long is the wife of Dublin-born Brian Long, who is the founder and managing partner of tech fund Atlantic Bridge Ventures. Atlantic Bridge recently launched a new €140 million Dublin-based fund that is set to invest in about 20 European tech firms.
The Sunday Times recently estimated that the pair are worth £55 million (€70 million). Gaynor-Long is also the president of the Ireland Fund of Monaco.
The abridged company accounts show that the number of staff at the venue was cut from 56 in 2013 to 47 in 2014, reducing staff costs from €2.4 million to €1.6 million.
Gaynor-Long has ploughed almost €2.4 million into the business through interest free loans. The firm said that while there is no fixed repayment date on the loans they are not expected to be called in during the next 12 months.
No one from Residence immediately responded to a request for comment as the venue was closed.
