Tweedy Group - The Aftermath

Sully

Some of the Tweedy Group staff are responding to posts here, so some replies are somewhat biased. Probably their competitor staff also replying.

At the end of the day, this group has been providing jobs for many locals and assisting in other local businesses by using their services. If in the unlikely event the group fails to recover, there will be a big hole in the City in terms of venue and jobs. Plus, the buildings will probably lie idle. We need more jobs, not less. Tweedy has done a lot for the city, even if he has a monopoly.

Gael23

I passed by oskars this morning and there was a man on the opposite side of the road with what I thought was a video camera.

mike65

Its on the news any minute now.

http://www.rte.ie/live/

Musicman2000

Just on Rte News now

Psychedelic

People keep saying the Tweedy Group have a monopoly, yet they only have half a dozen premises in the city. There's loads of other pubs and clubs in the city so Tweedy has nowhere near a monopoly.

BIG-SLICK-POKER

Psychedelic wrote: »

People keep saying the Tweedy Group have a monopoly, yet they only have half a dozen premises in the city. There's loads of other pubs and clubs in the city so Tweedy has nowhere near a monopoly.

Come in out the fog will ya

BIG-SLICK-POKER

alphapa wrote: »

looks like people just turned on the tweedy group they have been ripping people off for too long. muldoons is a prime example must be the dearest place in the town to buy a drink for the last few years but they havent as much as gave it a lick of paint for years, i know a good few lads working there and its not the managers fault either they just do what there told etc in saying that they hav done some good work with shaking up the night life aswel with bands every night in ruby lounge sports bar in masons but the cove has proven it all comes down to what a pint costs the place was jammers last sunday for the match and if the cove can charge that i see no reason why anywhere else cant! they must have made a absolute fortune over the years and fair play to the tweedy group they do support charity in this town as that chap above stated!

With the rates and costs on those buildings those price have to be charged i agree that it is expensive but its the goverments costs and increase in drink prices cause these .. Its easy for a small pub to serve at 3
€3.50 but for nightclub venues with late licence fees which are crazy now and insurance rates staff costs such as security etc etc .. These prices will always be higher in Niteclubs . You might think hes making a fortune but if an examiner is being appointed then u have no argument .

msd

Ive no sympathy for them. I was in WIT the week they bought the Muldoons/Oxygen complex for €10m, giving tweedy group control of all the night club in the centre of waterford. Rubys on a weds night went from being free to costing €8 within the week and have happily ripping the people of Waterford since..

BIG-SLICK-POKER

Clano wrote: »

i was in rubys last night twas very clear something was going on, the cloak room wasnt open and the smoking area was closed, obviously couldnt pay the staff to man the areas

Here we go lol

Cloakroom dont open mon-thurs . Smoking area now only opens weekends .. And they paid me for last night so really another ****e comment ..

I was djin last night in there and i take this as a positive step not a negaitve one , The group is trying to restructure payments to secure further investors and loans from the banks and i fel they will do and first up will be a complete re fit to muldoon and oxygen when this happens and a new smokin area in Rubys

Ledger

i just felt i should put my own side on this, i work for one of the main suppliers of drinks to the tweedy group of bars but i am also a frequent punter.

The fact is ALL pubs/clubs in waterford and indeed accross the country are experiencing a severe drop in buisness due to the economic downturn (i know, i'm sick of hearing that also!).
I agree that some of the tweedy bars are overpriced such as ruby's niteclub and oxygen niteclub.
Having said this some of the others are really doing their level best to try and attract punters, such as masons (as previously stated) and oscars, in the case of oscars the off licence is what is keeping the place going the bar seems to be doing below average buisness and again this is not down to the staff or managers its just the area or the crowd may not suit and there is not much can be done in this case as i have seen so many times in the past, certainly not much can be done in this present time.

and to clarify the case of the park inn/bad bobs:
this premesis is not part of the tweedy group it is owned by bob tweedy snr, who has had nothing to do with the tweedy group. bob tweedy jnr is the managing director of the tweedy group of bars.

and one last note:
in the case of the woodman bar/the ruby lounge/ruby's niteclub (all part of the same premesis and has the same staff and manager.) The manager of this premesis is possibly one of the best nightcub/bar manager i have ever seen he had a tall order when he took on this job several years ago, this is also evident considering he is relatively young,in his early thirties, and being so successfull in his job, and has rarely been wrong in his decisions.
Now for the other side of this coin, the fact is that the prices are too steep i nearly lost my life when i ordered a single vodka and coke and was told the price was nearly 8.50 this is high by anybody's standards. Having said that this is the way of all night clubs which continually overprice (both on the door and on drink) and are surprised when buisness is down. So we can't put the blame solely on the tweedy group it is the industry standard for years!

and on a slightly personal note i am horrified by the people who seem to already be popping open the champagne over these relevations! for it is not just the 200 odd jobs employed by him there is a domino effect which could devastate the region further! Such as suppliers,the local taxi companies, the local food outlets, the list goes on.......



thank you if you have taken the time to read this.
Rant over!

Psychedelic

BIG-SLICK-POKER wrote: »

Psychedelic wrote:

People keep saying the Tweedy Group have a monopoly, yet they only have half a dozen premises in the city. There's loads of other pubs and clubs in the city so Tweedy has nowhere near a monopoly.

Come in out the fog will ya

A monopoly means one person owns everything - Tweedy doesn't own The Forum, Harvey's, Revolution (I think) and most of the pubs in the city.

gman2k

Folks it's all about the credit crisis!
Banks are not lending to businesses, they in turn cannot pay their bills/ costs/ loans etc.
Businesses are in turn forced into examinership.
I drove by Masons earlier today before I heard the news, and was shocked at how run down the exterior of the building had become. It costs lots of money to keep all these spots going.
I feel sorry for Bob (who is a genuinely nice guy) and for his staff.
The good drinking folk of Waterford won't be discommoded by any of this.

Bluezar

Ledger wrote: »

i just felt i should put my own side on this, i work for one of the main suppliers of drinks to the tweedy group of bars but i am also a frequent punter.

The fact is ALL pubs/clubs in waterford and indeed accross the country are experiencing a severe drop in buisness due to the economic downturn (i know, i'm sick of hearing that also!).
I agree that some of the tweedy bars are overpriced such as ruby's niteclub and oxygen niteclub.
Having said this some of the others are really doing their level best to try and attract punters, such as masons (as previously stated) and oscars, in the case of oscars the off licence is what is keeping the place going the bar seems to be doing below average buisness and again this is not down to the staff or managers its just the area or the crowd may not suit and there is not much can be done in this case as i have seen so many times in the past, certainly not much can be done in this present time.

and to clarify the case of the park inn/bad bobs:
this premesis is not part of the tweedy group it is owned by bob tweedy snr, who has had nothing to do with the tweedy group. bob tweedy jnr is the managing director of the tweedy group of bars.

and one last note:
in the case of the woodman bar/the ruby lounge/ruby's niteclub (all part of the same premesis and has the same staff and manager.) The manager of this premesis is possibly one of the best nightcub/bar manager i have ever seen he had a tall order when he took on this job several years ago, this is also evident considering he is relatively young,in his early thirties, and being so successfull in his job, and has rarely been wrong in his decisions.
Now for the other side of this coin, the fact is that the prices are too steep i nearly lost my life when i ordered a single vodka and coke and was told the price was nearly 8.50 this is high by anybody's standards. Having said that this is the way of all night clubs which continually overprice (both on the door and on drink) and are surprised when buisness is down. So we can't put the blame solely on the tweedy group it is the industry standard for years!

and on a slightly personal note i am horrified by the people who seem to already be popping open the champagne over these relevations! for it is not just the 200 odd jobs employed by him there is a domino effect which could devastate the region further! Such as suppliers,the local taxi companies, the local food outlets, the list goes on.......



thank you if you have taken the time to read this.
Rant over!

Excellant Post

Ledger

if you think about this he may have a large market share in the area, but it is not a monopoly, other than his places, within a three hundred yard radius there is:

harveys
revolution/escape
electric avenue/ten
geoffs
twister vicks
the kasbar
the wacky apple


and then just outside of this but still within walking distance you have:

the mansion house
garveys
the gingerman bar
the bowery bar (is this still open?)
katty barrys
fiddler's green (formerly paul flynn's)
the munster


there are more but i cannot think of them off the top of my head at the moment

how is this a monopoly??

abouttobebanned

It's not a monopoly, but in a small city it's a fairly large chunk of the pie.

ec18

Ledger wrote: »

if you think about this he may have a large market share in the area, but it is not a monopoly, other than his places, within a three hundred yard radius there is:

harveys
revolution/escape
electric avenue/ten
geoffs
twister vicks
the kasbar
the wacky apple


and then just outside of this but still within walking distance you have:

the mansion house
garveys
the gingerman bar
the bowery bar (is this still open?)
katty barrys
fiddler's green (formerly paul flynn's)
the munster


there are more but i cannot think of them off the top of my head at the moment

how is this a monopoly??

Bowery has been closed for the last 2/3 years, and i believe tweedy owns ten and rents it out or has some connection with the premises

Professey Chin

Ledger wrote: »

if you think about this he may have a large market share in the area, but it is not a monopoly, other than his places, within a three hundred yard radius there is:

harveys
revolution/escape
electric avenue/ten
geoffs
twister vicks
the kasbar
the wacky apple


and then just outside of this but still within walking distance you have:

the mansion house
garveys
the gingerman bar
the bowery bar (is this still open?)
katty barrys
fiddler's green (formerly paul flynn's)
the munster


there are more but i cannot think of them off the top of my head at the moment

how is this a monopoly??

Just go with places with late licenses and see how much the balance changes

Ledger

Ultimate Chin wrote: »

Just go with places with late licenses and see how much the balance changes

yes i agree the list thins considerably but the point i am making is that it is not a monopoly, which it is not but yes it is a large market share

ziedth

Ok maybe in the strict economic terms its an oligopoly in waterford but he does hold the vast majority of the share. Lets not get carried away with the meaning of the word being used when we all know what he lads mean.

kilkennycat2004

Ledger wrote: »

the fact is that the prices are too steep i nearly lost my life when i ordered a single vodka and coke and was told the price was nearly 8.50 this is high by anybody's standards. !

This is the bottom line.

I know Bob myself , a great businessman during the boom , but as with so many of his ilk nowadays, is going to have to revamp to a much less wealthy client base to keep going.

Typhoon.

Terrible news for waterford, any local business goin down the tube is a bad thing.


I'd hazard a guess and say Bob still owns where the Pulpit was.... sure wasnt this where he started out? surely he'd want to hold onto it and just lease it out

Doesnt bob have a lot of pubs on the continent? Switzerland i think? these might belong to a different company that he can use to bail out his Irish interst. Either way I reckon he'l do ok... he's no fool.... well I hope he/the company does come out of it alright. There mightn't be that many people rushing to take over these business's if it does go under.... so the city could be left with more vacant units

Ledger

Typhoon. wrote: »

Doesnt bob have a lot of pubs on the continent? Switzerland i think?

i think so but having said that i have never heard anymore except people's assumptions and rumours

there is no way the tweedy group is going, Bob and the group have built up a wide base and a great respect and admiration in waterford and further over the last 20 odd years for it to go down the tubes now.

im sure at the very worst he may have to try to sell some property.

on a side note is it true it was him who bought the old bescos site in ballybricken a few years ago? or is this more s**te rumours?
a clarification would be great thanks

Adyx

Well this thread has improved a little bit. The fact is that no matter who owns what in a city the size of Waterford, there will be some collusion regards pricing(price fixing). It was there when Kavanaghs owned Muldoons and half of Masons, and it hasn't changed since Bob took Muldoons over. Also Muldoons/Ruby's are not the dearest places in Waterford. I know because I did the price changes for the Tweedy Group (this was over a year ago btw to all the people who think the prices go up every couple of months), Harveys is the dearest, the Kazbar is dearer for some drinks after 12 and up until recently the Forum was as dear if not more so. Tbh I don't care what people think any more about the Tweedy Group. To avoid it because of the Junction is the stupidest think I've ever heard. I worked in the Junction. While some of the customers were great, a lot of them were so up their own arse that I'd rather the scum that is often found in Muldoons on a Sunday night. Ask Ziedth what he thinks of Geoffs and you come close to what a lot of people who frequented the Junction were like.

There is an awful lot more I want to say on this in defence and against the Tweedy group, but given the circumstances I'm going drinking instead.

Ledger

Adyx wrote: »

There is an awful lot more I want to say on this in defence and against the Tweedy group, but given the circumstances I'm going drinking instead.

Make sure its a tweedy bar!! :rolleyes:

abouttobebanned

Adyx wrote: »

Well this thread has improved a little bit. The fact is that no matter who owns what in a city the size of Waterford, there will be some collusion regards pricing(price fixing). It was there when Kavanaghs owned Muldoons and half of Masons, and it hasn't changed since Bob took Muldoons over. Also Muldoons/Ruby's are not the dearest places in Waterford. I know because I did the price changes for the Tweedy Group (this was over a year ago btw to all the people who think the prices go up every couple of months), Harveys is the dearest, the Kazbar is dearer for some drinks after 12 and up until recently the Forum was as dear if not more so. Tbh I don't care what people think any more about the Tweedy Group. To avoid it because of the Junction is the stupidest think I've ever heard. I worked in the Junction. While some of the customers were great, a lot of them were so up their own arse that I'd rather the scum that is often found in Muldoons on a Sunday night. Ask Ziedth what he thinks of Geoffs and you come close to what a lot of people who frequented the Junction were like.

There is an awful lot more I want to say on this in defence and against the Tweedy group, but given the circumstances I'm going drinking instead.

Where ya going...may join ya for one...

Ledger

abouttobebanned wrote: »

Where ya going...may join ya for one...

actually sounds good room for one more?:D

ex_infantry man

it well for some to be able to go out on a work night! ! Tweedy also has a club in l.a. Apparently? ? ?

alphapa

Adyx wrote: »

Well this thread has improved a little bit. The fact is that no matter who owns what in a city the size of Waterford, there will be some collusion regards pricing(price fixing). It was there when Kavanaghs owned Muldoons and half of Masons, and it hasn't changed since Bob took Muldoons over. Also Muldoons/Ruby's are not the dearest places in Waterford. I know because I did the price changes for the Tweedy Group (this was over a year ago btw to all the people who think the prices go up every couple of months), Harveys is the dearest, the Kazbar is dearer for some drinks after 12 and up until recently the Forum was as dear if not more so. Tbh I don't care what people think any more about the Tweedy Group. To avoid it because of the Junction is the stupidest think I've ever heard. I worked in the Junction. While some of the customers were great, a lot of them were so up their own arse that I'd rather the scum that is often found in Muldoons on a Sunday night. Ask Ziedth what he thinks of Geoffs and you come close to what a lot of people who frequented the Junction were like.

There is an awful lot more I want to say on this in defence and against the Tweedy group, but given the circumstances I'm going drinking instead.

so ur trying to say they havent raised the prices in over a year????????

googlefan

I have a some experience with competition law. A company doesn't have to have the whole market or even a large percentage of it sewn up for it to be classed as dominant.

The issue of prices was contested by the Competition Authority this year, and they won. The Vinters Association froze prices if you remember.

Anyway, due to the variety of services that pubs/clubs have on offer it is very difficult to pin them to a particular area where they might be in abuse of a dominant position.

nkay1985

Ledger wrote: »

and one last note:
in the case of the woodman bar/the ruby lounge/ruby's niteclub (all part of the same premesis and has the same staff and manager.) The manager of this premesis is possibly one of the best nightcub/bar manager i have ever seen he had a tall order when he took on this job several years ago, this is also evident considering he is relatively young,in his early thirties, and being so successfull in his job, and has rarely been wrong in his decisions.


Now for the other side of this coin, the fact is that the prices are too steep i nearly lost my life when i ordered a single vodka and coke and was told the price was nearly 8.50 this is high by anybody's standards. Having said that this is the way of all night clubs which continually overprice (both on the door and on drink) and are surprised when buisness is down. So we can't put the blame solely on the tweedy group it is the industry standard for years!

Your whole post was excellent.

With regard to what I've quoted, I have to say I totally agree. I looked through the list of venues that Tweedy owns and don't like the majority of them. But I think The Woodman, Ruby's Lounge and Ruby's are very well run.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like Ruby's. I don't like the music or the crowd that goes there but that's one and the same thing. It's run very well and geared at exactly the kind of crowd that's been packing the place out for a long time.

Ruby's Lounge is by far and away my favourite late venue in the town. My only problem is that I always wish it was a bit bigger - I think it would be superb then. But then you'd have to lose The Woodman which has its own unique charm. It's nice to be able to still be able to chat while having a drink after 12am! So well done to whoever it is who runs those places.

As I said, I really don't like pretty much every other venue owned by the group but them going into examinership is no cause for celebration. When Bausch & Lomb announced redundancies and my job was possibly in danger, the last thing I'd have wanted was to come on here and hear people saying "Ah sure their manager is only an idiot, glad it's going" because that's what has happened here. If people don't like Bob Tweedy or how he does business, that's grand. But the net effect is that if one job is lost because of this, it's another blow to our ailing city, and one we can all do without.

I, for one, hope that the examinership process works for them and, who knows, maybe some good will come out of it and they won't find themselves as overstretched and be better able to concentrate on what they have.