Scotland faces losing 70,000 jobs in ghost town centres
‘These businesses won’t be replaced’
SCOTLAND’S town centres face being permanently scarred by coronavirus with fears as many as 70,000 jobs could be axed in the next two months.
Industry bodies representing town centre firms have told the Mail that business closures are imminent unless urgent action is taken.
They fear a ‘wave of tens of thousands of redundancies is on the very near horizon’ and that the trigger could be the end of the furlough scheme next month. In a series of dire warnings: UK Hospitality predicted 70,000 job losses at the end of the furlough scheme and warned hotel bookings for the period up to Christmas look ‘disastrous’.
A survey of hairdressers, barbers and beauty salons revealed that half are unsure if they can survive until the festive period.
Pubs and restaurant bosses said reopening has been ‘impossible’ for many due to deserted town centres and the damage caused by rules such as a ban on music.
Retailers warned hundreds of businesses are on the line because of factors including office workers being told to stay at home.
Scotland’s economy slumped by nearly a fifth in the three months to the end of June as lockdown measures brought much of the country to a near halt.
The economic turmoil has continued even as some of the measures have been relaxed, with town and city centres still much quieter than normal.
Willie Macleod, executive director for Scotland at UK Hospitality, warned that hotel bookings for November ‘look disastrous’.
He said: ‘Consumer confidence is generally low and business is badly affected by the lack of normal leisure travellers, international visitors, business travel, the collapse of air transport and the absence of office and other workers.
‘The hospitality industry has been very badly affected and bars and restaurants cannot plan ahead with any confidence for Christmas and New Year trading.
‘The industry needs a range of ongoing support, including with rents, business rates relief, employment costs and an extension of the reduced rate of VAT on hospitality services. Above all, there needs to be united action to stimulate demand or businesses will close and jobs will be lost.’
Marc Crothall, of the Scottish Tourism Alliance, said: ‘There are virtually no international visitors as a result of there being no current solution to the need for quarantine, which means it is simply not viable for some city attractions and hotels to open; many that have done are not breaking even.
‘There are, without a doubt, dark days ahead for tourism businesses all over Scotland. Without government support, a significant proportion will be forced to close their doors for good.
‘These businesses won’t be replaced. The picture is stark; the reality is that a wave of tens of thousands of redundancies is on the very near horizon.’
The NHBF, which represents hairdressers, barbers and beauty salons, said a survey of its Scottish members found half were not sure if their business would survive until Christmas.
Hilary Hall, chief executive of the
NHBF, said: ‘The fact that the Scottish Government still prohibits any services which cannot be adapted to avoid face to face contact, bans the removal of face coverings to enable facial treatments to take place and is still not allowing mobile beauty services to reopen, means the hair and beauty sector in Scotland is operating at a hugely reduced level, and some still not at all.
‘Both the Scottish and UK governments have a responsibility to help businesses get back on their feet and consider additional measures such as hardship grants, VAT reductions, further extensions to business rate reliefs etc, for sectors that can only offer greatly reduced services like ours.’
Research by the Fraser of Allander Institute indicated that
‘Impact has been devastating’
the city centres of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee have been hit hardest by the slowdown, while trade in several more rural areas has improved, indicating people who usually commute are shopping closer to home.
The Scottish Fiscal Commission also warned that ‘permanent’ damage could be done to the economy, which will not recover to pre-Covid levels until 2023 at the earliest.
A spokesman for the Scottish
Beer and Pub Association said: ‘The drop in footfall, particularly in urban areas and city centres, has meant that reopening for premises in these places has been difficult, if not impossible.
‘Combined with increased mitigation measures, like the ban on background music and noise from TVs, the impact is devastating for many pubs across Scotland.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We share the concerns over longer-term support and call for the UK Government to extend the job retention scheme, as they did our earlier demand to cut VAT rates for the tourism industry.
‘Job creation is at the heart of our Programme for Government and we’re doing everything in our power to support the tourism industry.
‘Throughout this unprecedented crisis we have listened and acted quickly to offer support, which now exceeds £2.3billion – including 100 per cent rates relief for properties in the hospitality sector.
‘We’re working with representatives of the beauty industry to develop guidance for the delivery of mobile treatments.’