G1 offers 3-month leave of absence

THE owner of Scotland’s biggest hospitality group has written to staff asking them to take a three-month “leave of absence” and called it an “opportunity”.

The G1 Group’s founder, Stefan King, sent an email to staff explaining further redundancies could be avoided if staff were to consider accepting three months’ unpaid leave.

It comes after the Scottish Hospitality Group recently warned that any further lockdown restrictions in response to Covid-19 would sound the death knell for pubs, restaurants and hotels across the country.

In the email sent out with the subject line “Leave of Absence Opportunity”, Mr King wrote: “As we consider the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on our employees and the business we wanted to explore whether there was any way of addressing the issue in the immediate term without having to make further redundancies (which is what we are trying to avoid).

“One solution was to ask you whether there would be an appetite amongst staff to consider accepting a period of up to three months’ unpaid leave of absence.

“This would mean that we could pick up where we left off when the worst of this nightmare is hopefully over.

“I appreciate that it is extremely worrying for you, as it is for us all, but I wanted to personally thank you for your patience, support and understanding whilst we navigate through these extremely difficult times as a Group.”

The email also explains the likelihood of much of the business remaining closed until the end of the financial year due to Government restrictions.

It went on: “With trade being difficult there have also in many cases been a reduction in days we are open.”

The G1 Group was approached for comment.