By Scott Wright

SCOTLAND’S crisis-hit hospitality industry was reeling again last night after two of the country’s biggest operators revealed redundancy plans, putting hundreds of jobs in jeopardy.

On the day a provisional date of July 15 was set for the reopening of the Scottish tourism industry, Macdonald Hotels and Apex Hotels said they had begun consulting staff on cuts.

Macdonald revealed around 485 roles are at risk in its 10 hotels and three resorts in Scotland. A total of 1,800 jobs are at risk out of the 2,229 people it employs across its 31 hotels and resorts around Scotland and England. With monthly outgoings of £2 million and its hotels still closed, Macdonald declared the “current situation is simply unsustainable”.

Apex Hotels, which has 10 four-star hotels in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Bath and London, said it has also entered a consultation in light of the “severe impact” on trade caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The hotel group, owned by the Springford family, said it was too early to say how many people would lose their jobs. But it noted that the process would involve employees at its portfolio of 10 four-star hotels, as well as its head office in Edinburgh.

Apex currently employs around 1,100 staff across its hotels and head office, and has an annual wage bill of £22 million. Around 95% of its team are currently on furlough.

The redundancy moves at Macdonald and Apex come shortly before employers will have to start contributing to the wage costs of furloughed staff from August, under plans to wind down the salary support scheme.

Macdonald deputy chairman Gordon Fraser said the furlough scheme has helped but noted that the company has continued to face expensive operating costs despite being unable to trade since the lockdown was enforced in March.

Mr Fraser said: “We had really hoped to avoid this very unwelcome step, but with no realistic prospects of a return to anything like normal trading for the foreseeable future, we were simply left with no choice. Potentially, we are looking at around 1,800 roles at risk, in all areas and at all levels of the business.

“Even after cutting all non-essential spending and with senior management and our remaining staff accepting reduced salaries, the current situation is simply unsustainable. “There is no realistic prospect of us returning to anything approaching normality for the foreseeable future and, whilst it’s enormously regrettable, we simply must take these steps to ensure that we have a meaningful business when this situation ends, enabling us to bring back as many of our employees as possible.”

Apex hopes its consultation will safeguard the future of the business and protect more jobs in the long term. But it highlighted the challenges it would face when its hotels were permitted to reopen, noting that its ability to attract international guests would be impeded by the 14-day quarantine restriction imposed on travellers arriving in the UK. Around 40% of Apex guests travel from overseas. Apex also said the two-metre social distancing rule would restrict its trading capacity.

Chief executive Angela Vickers said: “Throughout this period we have made use of the Government’s Job Retention Scheme with the aim of protecting jobs for as long as possible, but the impact coronavirus has had on our industry has been devastating. Our sector will be the last to reopen, and when we do it will be with many restrictions in place on how we can operate.”

She added: “Without additional hospitality sector support, it is simply not feasible for us to open our doors and resume trading anywhere close to pre-Covid-19 levels.”