Hospitality
The owner of Rutherglen’s only remaining independent pub, who has shelled out at least £7,000 during the pandemic to ensure the safety of customers and staff, says the Scottish Government has been“overly cruel”to the hospitality industry.
While The Sportsman owner, John Vickers, thinks the government should unveil a cautious road map out of lockdown, he says hospitality bosses have needed a timescale within which they can expect to welcome diners and drinkers back to their establishments.
He said:“It’s correct to err on the side of caution. But they should give us some semblance of a plan as to when we can start to prepare.
“I think they have been overly cruel to the hospitality industry which does more than anywhere to protect their customers and staff.”
As well as implementing track and trace, John has paid for protective equipment, seals and sanitisers, updated his bar’s ventilation system and adapted the beer garden to conform to social distancing rules.
He added:“They want you to have a two-hour slot, but I don’t see the sense in that because it only creates queues.
“Also, there’s the early closing, with places having to be empty by 10pm. Does Covid only come out after 10 o’clock? It is just nonsensical.
“I will be fine. I will survive. But if you open up with all these restrictions in place with the same overheads and expenses, a lot of places won’t make it.” Of proprietor Alex McDowall’s three establishments in the area – Legends
Bar Diner, Dr Gorman’s and Harley’s Sky Bar – he expects Legends to be the first to reopen due to its beer garden.
“We’ve had quite a few inquiries, but I’m not taking anything because it’s so unpredictable and the last thing I want to do is muck anybody about,”said Alex, who has ploughed £3,000 into protective measures in Dr Gorman’s and Legends, and has used the period of enforced closure to refurbish Harley’s. Alex said:“We are transforming it and putting things in place for when it does come back. I don’t think that will be until July, or maybe even August. There will be protective screening up, but I’m hoping by then there will be no masks.”
He added:“It has been hard and I caught it [Covid] myself and I know a number of people who passed away with it. But we need to live our lives now, otherwise our lives and society will crumble round about us.”