Government is picking on us, say hospitality industry chiefs
SCOTLAND’S hospitality industry is being ‘scapegoated’ with firms on the brink of collapse due to ‘unnecessary’ restrictions, ministers have been warned.
Sector chiefs are furious that the route map out of lockdown does not allow cafes, pubs and restaurants to open until April 26.
Indoor areas can open until 8pm and outdoor settings until 10pm, but alcohol will only be served outside.
All shops, gyms and tourist accommodation can also open from April 26, while hairdressers and barbers can welcome back customers from April 5.
Yesterday, Alan Henderson of the McGinty’s Group, which runs pubs, restaurants and a hotel in Aberdeen, told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland show that hospitality ‘is the one industry again that’s been scapegoated’.
He said: ‘There are restrictions which are unnecessary.
‘We keep getting told it’s based on data rather than dates, but when they don’t have the data they still pick on our industry. The hospitality industry is happy to stick to the data – unfortunately the Scottish Government is not.’
Scottish Licensed Trade Association office bearer Graham Blaikie warned that while the easing of restrictions is welcome, it will be too late for many firms.
He said: ‘Some of us are just holding on by our fingertips and I do think there will be a lot of premises this will be too late for.
‘On the positive side, at least we can open at the end of April.
‘It is outdoors for selling alcohol and you know what the elements are like in Scotland, so I won’t get too excited. Unfortunately, I won’t bring all my staff [back] initially.’
It follows a report this month by a hospitality industry group which said 60,000 jobs in Scotland are relying on restrictions easing.
Mike Grieve, chairman of the Night Time Industries Association Scotland Commission, said there was a ‘lack of clarity’ over late-night businesses, which have been affected ‘more adversely than any other area of the economy’. He added: ‘If nightlife can’t reopen this summer there is a serious risk that this vibrant cultural contributor to Scottish life may be irreparably damaged.’
At yesterday’s coronavirus briefing, the First Minister said she felt ‘overwhelming’ sympathy for the hospitality sector, as firms have been ‘disproportionately hit’.
But Nicola Sturgeon added her ‘complete rejection of the suggestion that hospitality is somehow being unfairly treated’.
She said: ‘It’s not. There is no agenda or motivation on the part of the Government to do that.’
Meanwhile, retailers voiced their confusion over the route map,
‘Sector is being scapegoated’ ‘Irreparably damaged’
which will allow hair salons to open weeks before many nonessential shops.
David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: ‘We’re delighted hairdressers have a firm date for reopening.
‘What’s perplexing is that the Government deems it OK for a customer to go into a barbers and sit for prolonged period for a haircut from April 5, but that same individual isn’t permitted to walk in to a coffee shop for a further three weeks afterwards.’