PUBS in Edinburgh will lose more than £3 million in turnover as a result of the city remaining in tier three of Scotland’s lockdown system, it has been declared.
Hospitality figures in Edinburgh were angered and surprised when First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced yesterday that the city would not be moving up into tier two, as had been widely anticipated. Pubs, bars and restaurants in tier two are allowed to welcome customers indoors and alcohol can be served, though only with the purchase of a meal. All customers must leave the premises by 8pm.
Reacting to the news that the City of Edinburgh will remain in tier three, the Scottish Beer & Pub Association calculated that the decision could cost pub businesses up to £3.2 million in lost revenue if there is no change before January.
Its analysis suggests only 92 pubs in the city are open in level three. A move into tier two would increase the number to 277, meaning 60 per cent of Edinburgh’s pubs could open, the SBPA said.
While hospitality outlets can open indoors and outdoors for the sale of food and non-alcoholic drinks in tier three, alcohol cannot be served. Premises must close by 6pm.
SBPA chief executive Emma McClarkin said: “The decision yesterday to keep Edinburgh in Level 3 was absolutely heartbreaking for the 185 pubs and bars that would otherwise have been able to open and start rebuilding their trade. The Christmas and New Year periods are critical to the year-round viability of many of these businesses, and if there’s no movement at the next review point, we’ll likely see some of these pubs never reopen.
“We estimate that £3.2 million in turnover could be lost in the city alone between now and January 1st. This will undoubtedly result in jobs losses and a knock-on impact through the supply-chain at the worst possible time. These businesses have invested significantly in their premises to ensure that they are Covid-secure, it is simply unfair to keep moving the goal posts on them.
“Level 2 still presents significant viability challenges, particularly on the time restrictions, but at least businesses would be able to start the recovery process and bring some much-needed relief over the Christmas period.
“We strongly urge the Government to rethink their decision.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here