Auchrannie expresses ‘sadness and regret’ as it announces temporary closure

AUCHRANNIE Resort on Arran has announced it will be closing until January 29 amid coronavirusrelated restrictions.

Expressing “great sadness and regret” over the temporary closure, co-founder and managing director Linda Johnston emphasised staff would be protected using the UK

Government’s coronavirus job retention scheme. The hotel and spa resort has a team of about 180 people.

Ms Johnston said: “The hospitality industry has spent vast sums on implementing safe systems to make sure we could open safely following the national lockdown. Arran businesses implemented Covid precautions responsibly and effectively and this was demonstrated during the four months from July 2020 when the island was able to trade effectively and welcomed large numbers of visitors without a single case of Covid-19.”

She explained that the “travel and other restrictions in place since the introduction of the tier system on 2 November 2020, ever-changing guidelines and uncertain times ahead make it impossible for the business to trade viably at this time”.

Ms Johnston added: “With the furlough in place, our team is protected, whilst closing the resort allows us to minimise costs and reduce risk by creating certainty instead of speculation in our cashflow projections. Having said that, we still need to cover very high fixed costs each month we are closed which run into six figures, for which we receive very little support, but we would face a much larger loss if we attempt to continue trading in the current situation...

“We understand the effect this decision will have on guests, team members, the community, the supply chain and other businesses who rely on tourism over the winter. We are also sorry we are unable to open our leisure facilities to the community.”