Gleneagles Hotel forced to close doors and furlough staff as lockdown bites

Five-star resort Gleneagles is closing today until Februar y due to i ncreased lo ckdown restrictions in the area.

T h e c l o su r e i s t h e s e c o n d this year for the luxury hotel, w h i c h w a s s h u t f o r f o u r mo n t h s f r o m Ma r c h . D u r - ing this shutdown, however, all golf courses and membership leisure facilities, including equestrian activities, will stay open.

I t i s u n d e r s t o o d t h a t s t a f f at the hotel, which was last month named the top UK hotel in the Condé Nast Traveller’s 2020 Readers’ Choice Awards, will be put on furlough after the UK Government extended the scheme earlier this month.

P e r t h a n d K i n r o s s w a s moved into level three lockdown on Tuesday, amid rising cases in the area. The change means that restaurants and b a r s c a n n o t s e r ve a l c o h o l - ic drinks with or without a meal and must close by 6pm – although hotels can ser ve food to guests in their rooms until 10pm.

G l e n e a g l e s s p o k e s m a n Conor O’lear y said: “Following the Scottish Government’s announcement that Perth and Kinross will be moved up to protection level three in the national coronavirus restriction system, we’ve taken the very difficult decision to temp o r a r i l y c l o s e G l e n e a g l e s ’ doors for the second time this year – from Friday, November 13, until Sunday, Januar y 31, inclusive.”

He said: “Having worked so hard to provide a safe envi - ronment across our estate, we are saddened by this development, especially in the lead-up to Christmas, the highlight of our calendar for both teams and guests.”

Mr O’leary added: “However, we’re committed to taking the additional measures necessar y to protect the health and wellbeing of ever yone at Gl e n e a g l e s a n d t o p l ay o u r par t in minimising Covid-19 cases in the region.

“The support and well-wishes we’ve received over the past eight months, including our f o u r - mon t h c l o s u r e p e r i o d earlier this year, have been truly humbling, and we look forward to welcoming back our hotel guests from 1 Februar y, subject to government regulations.”

Marc Crothall, chief executive of the S cottish Tourism Alliance, hinted that the Scott i s h G o ve r n m e n t c o u l d b e planning further support for hospitalit y and leisure businesses.

He said: “The news that Glen e a g l e s w i l l b e c l o s i n g i t s doors until Februar y comes a s n o s u r p r i s e t o me g ive n the recent announcements. I have been having conversations with hoteliers the length and breadth of the country and many are doing similar. The costs of remaining open and providing a total experience which the customer expects, with limitations and uncertainty, are too high.

"While furlough is a welcome suppor t for staff who would almost cer tainly be without a job right now in many businesses had it not been extended, it offers no direct financial b en e f i t to b u s i n e s s e s a n d a much greater degree of financial support is needed immediately to enable those both open and closed to remain solvent and bounce back when we are through the crisis period and into recovery.

"We reiterated this on a private call between myself, STA chair Stephen Leckie and the First Minister yesterday, who acknowledged this, and we would hop e that additional supp or t measures for busi - n e s s e s o p e r a t i n g t h r o u g h - o u t t h e s e c t o r w o u l d b e announced in the ver y near future.”

News o f t h e c l o s ur e c a me a mi d f u r t h e r b a d n e ws f o r Scottish workers, as it was confirmed another 165 jobs are at risk at Loganair, on top of 92 which have just gone.

T h e t o t a l o f 2 5 7 w o u l d amount to more than 30 per cent of the Glasgow airline’s workforce of 850.

The Unite union described the news as “absolutely shatt e r i n g ” b u t L o g a n a i r c h i e f executive Jonathan Hinkles said it was a “worst-case sce - nario” if there was no p ostCovid recovery next spring.

The union said 70 of 342 jobs were at risk at Glasgow Airport, 49 of 153 at Aberdeen, 26 of 74 at Edinburgh and 20 of 53 at Inverness.

L o g a n a i r s a i d t h e r e h a d already been 68 redundancies and early retirements over the last two months.

However, confidence in airlines increased this week with n e ws o f a va c c i n e t h a t s aw share prices soaring.

Loganair could also stand to gain by continuing its expansion of routes to other parts of the UK, filling in gaps left by the collapse of Flybe in March.

Unite has called for the airl i n e t o u s e t h e U K G ove r n - ment’s five-month extension of the furlough scheme to the end of March to avert the job losses.

Industrial officer Pat Mcilvo g u e s a i d : “T h e n e ws o f a further 165 jobs potentially at immediate risk in addition to the jobs which Loganair has a l r e a dy s e r ve d n o t i c e o n i s absolutely shattering.

"But we believe that by working together we can mitigate t h e n e e d f o r c o m p u l s o r y redundancies if we have positive engagement with Loganair.

"It’s essential we explore and utilise all of the levers available to save jobs including the extension of the job retention scheme.

"Unite has repeatedly urged the S cottish Government to g i ve g r e a t e r s u p p o r t t o a n industr y on life suppor t and t h i s a n n ou n c e ment s h o u l d send shockwaves through the t r a n s p o r t mi n i s t r y t h a t f a r more needs to be done.”

Mr Hinkles said: “The latest round of Covid-related lockdowns and restrictions UKwide has led to the recover y from the pandemic being later, and slower, than could reasonably have been expected three months ago.

“The impact of this has been felt throughout the economy, but particularly acutely in the aviation sector.”