Blow for nightclubs and pubs as officials cancel late licences for August
Edinburgh’s nightlife scene suffered a fresh blow after it emerged that the two-hour extended opening hours given to pubs during the festivals season have been cancelled by licensing officials.
Late licences usually come into operation in August, allowing pubs to stay open until 3am and nightclubs until 5am.
Members of the licensed trade said the additional income from extended hours would have helped make up for lockdown losses but Edinburgh City Council said it was due to there being no festival this year.
Iain Ponton, owner of Oz Bar in the city’s Grassmarket, said it would have “really helped” if could have stayed open later during August.
He told BBC Scotland: “I’m really disappointed by this news as Edinburgh council said it wanted to help businesses recover from the lockdown.
“The Edinburgh Festival might be off but Edinburgh isn’t shutting down. There are plenty of tourists walking about and this would have helped us recoup some of the money we have lost during the lockdown.
“The council really is not helping by doing this. What harm would it have done to let us carry on having a late licence during August?”
Cammy Barnett, general manager of Tonic in North Castle Street, said he had been relying on the late licence going ahead.
“This is a shock,” he said. “I am very disappointed as it would have made a huge difference to have extended hours each night as we really need to recoup the losses we have had during the last four months of lockdown.
“We are only able to run at 50 per cent capacity just now so we are severely restricted in this building so it’s another blow to lose the late licence.
“The later closing during August is very popular and is a big thing for us. There are customers who want to have a chilled night and don’t want to be forced onto a nightclub to carry on their night and the late licence means they can do that. It would have been amazing to have had it this year and we were relying on it.”
Frankie Benham, assistant manager of Malones in Morrison Street, said she “felt frustrated” after introducing strict social distancing measures in line with scottish government recommendations.
Norman Work, chairman of City of Edinburgh Council’s licensing board, said: “As the festivals are not going ahead due to the coronavirus this year, the board has made a decision not to go ahead with agreeing dates for licence extensions.”