The design management firm owned by one of Ireland’s best known designers, Paul Costelloe last year enjoyed a bumper year as it recorded post tax and dividend profits of €350,502.
Mr Costelloe celebrated his 80th birthday last week and new accounts filed by his Paul Costelloe Design Management Ltd show it returned to post tax and dividend profit last year.
The €350,502 post tax and dividend profit last year resulted in accumulated profits of €2.42m at the end of August last.
The €350,502 post tax and dividend profit followed the company recording a post tax and dividend loss of €152,055 in the prior year.
Mr Costelloe has been in business in the fashion industry since the 1960s and the annual return describes his occupation as ‘artist/sculptor’.
In an interview with The Sunday Independent last Sunday marking his mile-stone birthday, Mr Costelloe said: “I do think fashion designers should get tax breaks too, because I’m basically an artist. I started as an artist, and there’s a lot of fashion designers like that.”
Reflecting on his recent career, Mr Costelloe said “Surprisingly, I have done reasonably well over the last 10 years.”
Next year Mr Costelloe will celebrate two decades working with Dunnes Stores owner Margaret Heffernan.
Mr Costelloe’s firm’s cash funds and liquid investments last year increased from €2.12m to €2.6m.
This was made up of investments in quoted funds rising from €1.02m to €1.5m and cash funds remaining static in €1.09m.
The numbers employed remained at seven made up of four in design and promotion and three in management.
Staff costs, including directors’ pay, increased from €534,062 to €598,044. Directors’ pay last year increased from €306,133 to €322,799.
The accounts show that €174,878 was payable to one of the company’s directors, Gerald Mescal in respect of financial consultancy, accounting, management and office services provided by his firm.
Costelloe has been a feature on the Irish design landscape for decades and his career highs include designing a uniform for British Airways staff in 1992 that remained in service for a record 12 years; designing the Irish Olympic team uniform for the 2004 Athens Olympics and designing the uniforms for the wives of the European Ryder Cup team from 2006 to 2011.
The Dublin-born couturier, who first left Ireland at the age of 19 to “live off tins of ravioli” in Paris, soon became a royal favourite and designed many of Princess Diana’s outfits.
Before he established himself as a world renowned designer, Costelloe was selling Bibles in Northern Ireland at the age of 15.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
