Restaurants and bars ‘bleeding to death’ while doors are shut

Tayside and Fife restaurants, pubs and cafes are closing their doors amid warnings the industry has been left to “bleed to death”.

Tutties Neuk Inn in Arbroath became one of the first restaurants to close its doors after Boris Johnson said people should avoid going to pubs, clubs and restaurants.

Owners Carol and Alan Shand made the decision on Monday night after the prime minister’s statement.

Six members of staff have lost their jobs as a result.

Mrs Shand said: “We have got the football across the road and that’s not on. We were receiving so many cancellations and we have a lot of elderly customers.

“The safety of our staff and customers is our number one priority. We felt we had to keep them safe.”

She said the couple were already looking to the future and to strengthening the business when they were able to reopen.

Perth Bar of the Year award winners The Twa Tams has also taken the decision to cease trading for now.

A spokesperson said: “We’re very sad to announce that the situation with the Covid-19 outbreak has deteriorated to the point where we have to close the pub. In line with government advice, this will be effective immediately.

“As of yet we don’t have an idea of how long this will last.”

Andrew McBride, owner of the Castle Club in Forfar, one of the oldest restaurants in the Angus town, said governments had left the industry “high and dry”.

He said: “It’s like they cut an artery and left us slowly to bleed to death.”

He added celebrations involving older people had been hardest hit with a trickle of cancellations now turning into a flood.

“It’s family get-togethers in the main and cancellations for Mother’s Day.”

He said suppliers, such as butchers and dairies, would also see a knock-on effect as demand dropped from restaurants such as his own.

Graham Bucknall is the owner of The Ship Inn in Elie, a pub and restaurant he bought with his wife, Rachel, in 2014.

Graham said: “After the (prime minister’s) announcement, the phone started ringing with cancellations.”

The View Restaurant in Wormit, which is run by husband and wife Steve and Karen Robertson, is staying open to honour bookings.

The couple said: “It’s a challenging situation for us as the restaurant is our only source of income and have staff who are reliant on us as much as we are to the business.”

Allan Jackson, director at Greens ‘N’ Beans takeaway in Kirkcaldy’s Hunter Street, is also staying open but taking measures to mitigate the impact.

He said: “As a small independent business I hope customers appreciate I can’t afford to close as this would have a permanent impact that we would struggle to recover from.”

The Bakers Field café in Tolbooth Street, Kirkcaldy, is closed until further notice.

Owner Roslyn Fawns said: “We feel that morally this is the right thing to do for our community.”

Buffet-style restaurants have also been forced to close, with Beijing Banquet in Glenrothes and the recently-opened Pommy’s in Kirkcaldy shutting up shop for the time being.

In Fife alone there are 3,000 restaurants and cafes, and 1,500 pubs and bars, with the pub and restaurant sector accounting for more than 3% of workers.

In Dundee, the figure is 7.2%.

At the Shaheen restaurant and takeaway on the city’s Commercial Street, manager Sanat Ghatak said he feared for trade in the coming weeks.

He added: “By Saturday our numbers were almost half of what we would normally expect.

“It’s also hard to find suppliers to keep our businesses operating.”

Colin Bell, who runs the Bunker golf lounge and bar in Perth, is staying open for now.

He said: “We had cancellations on Tuesday morning and we’re talking to our insurers to see what will happen if we have to close.”

Elsewhere in Perth, the Venue owner Frank Burger-Seed said: “If we close, our staff will struggle to pay their bills and have problems trying to survive themselves.”