HOSPITALITY AT BREAKING POINT Hotel says strain on remaining staff has left them in tears

Hospitality businesses in Perthshire are at“breaking point” due to a lack of foreign seasonal staff.

At the height of the holiday season, a number of businesses say there are no candidates for vacant hotel and cafe posts.

Some have had to cut opening hours or restrict menus to continue to trade.

The issue, which is believed to be down to Brexit, is putting pressure on staff who are there, with some reporting receiving abuse from customers as they try to enforce COVID restrictions.

At the Atholl Arms Hotel in Blair Atholl, owner Heather Reeves said agencies who normally supplied her with staff have been unable to.

She said she employed 40 people across the 31-bedroom hotel and another concern in Pitlochry, The Moulin Inn.

“The job agencies have nothing,” she said.

“I was faced last week with training an ex-Amazon warehouse person to be a kitchen porter so my current kitchen porter could train as a commis chef.

“Another person I took on was a student from Dundee Uni who had no hotel experience but had been

a berry picker.

“I have the additional strain of training up employees when we are super busy already.”

She said the pressure of work had reduced members of staff to tears.

“It feels like breaking point. In my 35 years here I’ve never experienced anything like this.

“Everywhere is totally rammed. Then on top of this, a minority of customers are ignoring COVID rules and refusing to avoid standing at the bar and waiting for table service.

“We have had staff in tears because some people are incredibly rude when we ask for them to wear masks.

“Everything takes time. Our staff are giving 120 per cent, some are doing the equivalent of two jobs, but we are just human beings.

“There are not enough staff working. Everything then is made worse by the COVID rules. A small minority of people are spoiling it for everyone because they refuse to be patient.”

The Birks Cinema’s new cafe in Aberfeldy took a hit within a month of opening its doors because there were not the staff to operate.

It has scaled back operating hours by closing the cinema building on a Tuesday and Wednesday each week, starting from Tuesday July 6 until the end of July.

A post on social media on

Friday explained the problem: “This is a direct result of being unable to recruit two new parttime customer experience assistants to fulfil the necessary (and bare minimum staffing levels) to deliver the new menus and cinema opening hours from the start of July.

“The Birks is not alone in this sector-wide hospitality staffing crisis and feels incredibly lucky with its current team of hardworking staff and volunteers.”

In Blair Atholl, Food in the Park takeaway had personnel worries too, saying: “Due to staff shortages (everywhere, it seems) we were going to have to shut during the daytime, but we think we have found a solution.”

Midweek, restricted food will be available at FITP until after 4pm, when they can offer normal fried food service and drinks until 8.30pm.

They will offer normal service Friday to Sunday from noon.

It is not just accommodation and cafes and bars feeling the strain.

Members of the public reported regularly encountering bare fresh produce shelves in the Aberfeldy Co-op, which was being anecdotally blamed on a shortage of delivery drivers.

A spokesperson for Co-op said: “We have experienced some minor disruption to some supplies locally, but we are working closely with our suppliers to ensure that consumers still have access to the same great selection of goods.”

Commenting on the acute staffing crisis within Highland Perthshire’s hospitality sector, Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart said: “The COVID-19 crisis, coupled with Brexit, has created a perfect storm, causing chronic staffing shortages for local businesses.

“Many overseas workers returned to their country of birth to see through the pandemic at home.

“In addition, due to the botched Brexit deal, EU nationals have left to pursue a different career, or have returned to their native country over the uncertainty Brexit has created.”