The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Tier 3 body blow rocks regions’ hard-pressed hospitality businesses
Bosses at pubs , restaurants and hotels across Fife, Perth and Kinross and Angus say they will have no option but to c lose fo l lowing the announcement they will have to stop selling alcohol indoors and outdoors and close at 6pm under the new Tier 3 restrictions.
The move will bring the areas into line with Dundee, which has been operating under Tier 3 since Monday November 2, along with much of the central belt.
Claire Wheelen, manager of Pinkertons in Glenrothes, said her venue would almost certainly be forced to shut.
“We are just ge tting halfway back on our feet with being able to serve alcohol with food and this has just come as a massive blow again,” she said.
“It ’s like two steps forward and 10 steps back.
“You can’t plan as you don’t know what stock to order, your staff don’t know what they’re doing from one week to the next, and the funding doesn’t cover anything that you need. It’s just a constant worry.”
Lee Murray, owner of the Laurel Bank Ho t e l in Markinch, says they will also close.
“For us, it’s no good for our business, we need to serve alcohol. We will just shut because it’s pointless,” he said.
“We have had to effectively tell people they were going on furlough and we only opened a week ago.
“It’s devastating. Every time they changed the goalposts we actually did OK, not great, but managed to adapt and have been able to survive and not lose too much.
“People are asking us about Christmas, but we don’t know how it’s going to look. How can you plan a business week to week?”
Will Docker at Balgove Larder near St Andrews hopes to be able to keep his farm shop, steak barn and café open.
H e s a id : “I t ’ s disappointing that Fife is going to move to level three but we absolutely understand the need to be cautious and work together to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The difficulty for us, as with other bus inesses , is the importance of keeping up to date with the constantly changing regulations.”
In Perth, the owners of the King James pub, Helen Ratcliffe and husband William, also said they would close.
Helen said: “We’ve just opened up for two weeks and now we’re having to shut down again. We can’t financially stay open without selling alcohol.
“It’s a bit of a nightmare because we’ve just spent a lot of money to h av e outside seating and things because we reopened and it’s not sustainable at level three.
“You just worry about how long this is going to go on for.”
Kevin Lidell , who co-owns the Crown Inn in Monifieth and the Stag’s Head in Carnoustie with his wife , said: “It ’s de vastating , especially considering Angus was doing so well with keeping numbers down.
“We feel just because Dundee is on a high level that we’ve been dragged into it.
“That’s us now put in the position where we have to close the Stag’s Head after Thursday night and we won’t long.”
Dilys Ewart, who runs the Air lie Arms in K i r r i e m u i r, said: “Fo r businesses to be stable and provide jobs, the very least we need is a clear plan for operating.
“Just minutes after the announcement, I’ve had to cance l four d inner reservations.
“The restaurant is also fully booked on Saturday, so those will likely be cancelled too.
“It’s so disappointing. It’s unfortunate for the staff as well but at least we have furlough.
“We can only hope fewer restrictions in Christmas period.
“Without that trade, it puts businesses in a very bad place.” know for how for the