Wedding businesses in desperate plea for help

ASt Andrews wedding venue owner says coronavirus is devastating the industry and has called for more help from the UK Government.

Samantha Nisbet, from Kinkell Byre, has had to postpone 70 events this year as restrictions have made planning impossible for many couples.

While she has benefited from business support schemes set up by government, including furlough, many of the local suppliers she uses are not eligible for help and are at risk of losing their businesses by the end of the year.

“It ’s affect ing independent suppliers like florists, caterers, photographers and selfcatering accommodation and some of them won’t be here for weddings rearranged for next year,” she said.

“T hat will be pre tty devastating for couples who won’t get what they planned.”

Samantha’s plight, and that of other Fife wedding businesses, was raised at Westminster by Liberal Democrat MP We n d y Chamberlain, who said further support was essential.

Kinkell Byre normally hosts more than 80 weddings a year but has had no business at all since February.

Tier 3 restrictions in Fife mean no more than 20 guests are allowed to attend, all of whom must wear a mask, and there must be no music or speeches.

“Everything that makes a wedding has been stopped, so most people are just postponing ,” Samantha.

“Under the current guidelines, we cannot operate or generate any revenue and the business will not sur vive much longer.

“We have the space and capacity to do events safely but with larger numbers than the current guidelines permit. The limit should be linked to the capacity of the venue.”

She said she had been pushing for political pressure on the UK Government to come up with a proper plan before it’s too late.

“A lot of caterers are already in administration, there’s a florist who had to give up her shop because she doesn’t have a business to keep it going and I know some people who have had to give up and take jobs in Tesco,” she said. explained

“Coronavirus has hit the industry really hard and had a huge affect on a lot of businesses.”

Florist Amy Annand’s business is largely focused on weddings.

She has had to give up her shop and move online but restrictions are still having a major impact.

“People are moving their weddings to next year or even 2022, which is making keeping the business going really hard,” she said.

“Without support from the government many companies will not last until then.

“From large event venues to their small independent suppliers, we are a multibillion- pound industr y responsible for thousands of jobs but we have not been given the support we need to survive until the recovery.

“We need the government to listen to our concerns and to support us.”

North East Fife MP Wendy Chamberlain said the wedding events industry generates £ 10 billion and employs 400,000 people across the UK.

“If the government will not or cannot change the restrictions, they need to provide further financial support to enable these businesses to survive through until March,” she said.

Paul Scully MP, the UK G o v e r n m e n t ’s undersecretary of state for business, said he had received a number of representations from wedding venues and described the sector as “hard-pressed”.

He said the rollout of rapid coronavirus testing would help fix the problem almost overnight.

NO REVENUE: Samantha Nisbet of Kinkell Byre has had to postpone 70 wedding events so far this year due to Covid. Picture by Steve Brown.