FM urged to stop ‘tidal wave’ of closures

Scotland’s hospitality industry faces a “tidal wave of business closures and mass redundancies” if social distancing measures have to remain in place when bars and restaurants reopen, Nicola Sturgeon has been told.

A group of Scottish chefs including Nick Nairn, Martin Wishart and Tom Kitchin have highlighted their fears for the sector in the midst of the Covid19 pandemic in an open letter to the first minister.

The group, which also includes the general manager of Restaurant Andrew Fairlie in Perthshire and the proprietor of The Witchery in Edinburgh, told Ms Sturgeon “over the past decade we have helped change the worldwide image of Scotland when it comes to food, drink and hospitality”.

But they warned the “reputational change” the sector has enjoyed could now be “set back for a generation”.

Hospitality is “one of the main pillars of the Scottish economy”, they argued, employing some 220,000 people directly.

But the group warned: “As the lockdown continues and our doors remain closed with no end to that in sight, the very future of our businesses and the wider food and drink network we support is at risk.

“If furlough ends and restaurants, bars and hotels are allowed to reopen but with social distancing enforced and no income from major events and festivals, the result will be a tidal wave of business closures and mass redundancies, increasing Scottish unemployment and the strain on the welfare system.”

To help, they want the first minister to press the UK Government to extend the furlough scheme – which pays the bulk of wages for staff who can no longer work as a result of Covid-19 – beyond its current end date in October, with “further flexibility and phasing to support businesses until at least Q1 2021”.

In addition to this, they want the government to support a 12-month rent free period, with reductions “for as long as social distancing is required in our premises”.

They said a business rates holiday should be extended until the end of June 2021 “to allow hospitality to get up and trading again”.

A Holyrood spokeswoman said: “We will look at all of the suggestions put forward.”