The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Better deal for hospitality
Aberdeen council leaders and the Scottish Government have thrashed out a deal to ensure hospitality firms shut down by August’s local lockdown are no worse off than their central belt counterparts.
But last night city administration co- leader Douglas Lumsden said it was “a race against time” for businesses to take advantage of aid on offer.
As Aberdeen was plunged into a three- week local lockdown , pubs , restaurants and cafes were ordered to close.
Affected firms, depending on their size, could apply for one-off grants of £1,000 or £1,500 from a £1 million fund to help them through the enforced closure.
But when the stricter lockdown measures were imposed on the central belt’s hospitality trade last week, the government put up double the money.
The in equity led to protest from the city council leaders and business bosses alike.
Late last night, council co-leaders Douglas Lumsden and Jenny Laing hailed a victory in talks with the government after bringing the support on offer in Aberdeen in line with elsewhere.
Businesses previously promised £ 1,000 will get £2,000 while those larger firms will get the full £3,000 – and if they have already received the cash it should happen automatically.
But council co-leader Mr Lumsden said it was a “race against time” as the offer expires on Monday for those who have yet to apply.
“What matters now is that all businesses who are eligible, those hospitality businesses affected by the local lockdown, apply by Monday,” he said.
His co-leader Jenny Laing said: “It was disgraceful that Aberdeen businesses were being treated differently to those in Glasgow and it is only right that these grants have now been increased”.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We fully appreciate how difficult it has been for the hospitality sector, which is why we are doing everything with the powers we have to help businesses in Aberdeen and across Scotland.
“Given that Aberdeen City Council has so far yet to allocate all of the funds, we were happy to provide flexibility on the level of grants ,” added the spokesman.