Nightclub boss hits out at funding blow
ANIGHTCLUB boss has criticised the Scottish Government as the nightclub has been omitted from lifeline funding. The Cathouse, on Union Street, alongside its sister nightclub, The Garage, reopened earlier this month as bars in a bid to save jobs in both units.
The director of the rock club, Brian Fulton, has now revealed both clubs will miss out on £ 100,000 worth of grants made available by the Scottish Government due to the fact they reopened in a different capacity.
Due to changing coronavirus restrictions, both venues reopened for only one week before trading was ceased again.
Brian said: “The furlough scheme that we are using is just about to come to an end. It wasn’t looking like there would be anything coming in to replace it, so we thought, we need to save as many jobs as we can. So we reinvented and opened up as bars. We thought if we do that, it will help to save as many jobs as we can.
“We repurposed and then the Scottish Government revealed it would be banning background music which was one kick for us, then they said they’d be introducing a 10pm curfew.
“We thought that we would reopen anyway to trade at a minimum level in the hope that we could save our jobs and work around the restrictions.
“We traded for about a week, losing money overall because of start- up costs to transform the clubs into bars. We understand why they shut us, everybody else is on the same boat. But then they announced a fund for nightclubs and soft play centres that we won’t be able to access because we reopened temporarily as bars in order to survive.”
The Scottish Government revealed on Tuesday that nightclubs and soft play centres in Scotland would be able to access grants of up to £ 50,000 as they have been the only two industries unable to reopen since March.
Brian described the loophole as a “killer” to entrepreneurial spirit as both venues are left unable to access the one- off grant.
“We are in a fast- changing, horrible environment where we’ve got to try to think on our feet”, he said.
“Without the money from the fund, it makes it harder for us to keep going. We’re spending money every day and we’re not taking any in. We still have insurance, rent and various other costs coming out. When we reinvented and opened as bars, it cost us to do that too. We’ve not made any money since we shut in March.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We know that nightclubs and soft play centres have been particularly badly hit by this pandemic – unlike the majority of businesses, they have been closed by law since March.
“We recognise that some premises will not be eligible as they have opened since March
– for example by changing their licence to open as a pub – and we are continuing to discuss this with the sector.”
We’ve not made any money since we shut in March