A group of more than 80 musicians and politicians have written an open letter to Sir Richard Branson to appeal for Scottish artists to be paid money owed by Virgin Hotels.

It comes after the closure of its Glasgow hotel last year with musicians being left unpaid. The group say artists are owed more than £17,000 by Virgin Hotels and they want Mr Branson to step in and ensure the money is received.

The hotel closed in December last year with 150 employees losing their jobs just six days before Christmas. Those employees were paid for their work but artists who had been performing in the hotel hadn’t been, and it remains the case now.

Now the group, which includes Labour MP Dr Scott Arthur and former SNP MP Alison Thewliss as well Unite’s Bryan Simpson and Dame Evelyn Glennie, are urging things to change and revealed some musicians are owed as much as £4,000 in their letter.

They say artists were assured they would have their invoices paid but its still yet to happen and have branded it ‘unethical and unjust’.

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In their letter, the group said: “We are writing to you on behalf of the Scottish artists owed over £17,000 by Virgin Hotels. The signatories include prominent figures in the music industry, members of parliament, union leaders, OBE recipients, and multiple-award winning Scottish artists.

“We wish to draw your attention to a serious matter arising from the closure of the Virgin Hotel in Glasgow last year, which left freelance musicians who had performed at the hotel unpaid for their work.

“To give a broader context, when Virgin Hotels Glasgow closed on December 19th last year, around 150 employees lost their jobs with immediate effect. While these employees were ultimately paid for the work they had undertaken, the award-winning and renowned artists who had been performing in the hotel were not.

“With some being owed as much as £4000, that non-payment has led to both financial and emotional difficulty during what was already an extremely challenging time.

“Artists were assured on numerous occasions by the Regional Director of Entertainment, external to the Glasgow hotel, that their outstanding invoices would be paid in spite of waits of over 3 months in some instances.

“As those reassurances came from senior management, artists continued to accept bookings, with some accumulating unpaid invoices totalling thousands of pounds.

“While senior management may not have been fully aware of the extent of the financial issues, it was irresponsible for the group to continue to book musical entertainment for the hotel if there was even the slightest likelihood that musicians would not be paid for their work.

“We see it as unethical and unjust for artists to bear the financial repercussions of Virgin Hotels’ mismanagement of this situation.

“Performers placed a tremendous amount of trust in Virgin Hotels, and were only willing to continue to work in spite of waiting for outstanding fees to be paid because of the inherent trust they had in Virgin as a brand, and because of its roots - and reputation – within the music industry.

Virgin Hotels in GlasgowVirgin Hotels in Glasgow (Image: Commons Club)

“That reputation has been tarnished on a local level, with many of the country’s most prolific artists now refusing to work with the remaining hotel in Edinburgh and loyal music audiences choosing to take their patronage elsewhere.

“The £17,000 owed to these artists is merely a rounding error to an organisation the scale of Virgin Hotels, but would mean everything to these artists. Paying them the fees they are rightfully due would mend the rift that has been created, restore trust in the hotels and allow the Virgin Hotel in Edinburgh to become a platform where Scotland’s immensely talented musical community can be showcased, providing the highest quality musical entertainment to the hotel's guests.

“We urge you to take swift action to resolve this matter and restore the trust and reputation that Virgin name has had within the music industry since its inception.”

Shortly before the hotel shut last year, it had been reprimanded by Glasgow City Council over ‘misleading’ drink prices.

It had been serving double measures of drinks as standard as part of their policy rather than singles with customers unaware that was the case.  

A statement from Virgin Hotels said: "Lloyds Developments Limited – the owner of Virgin Hotels Glasgow was put into Administration by its lenders on 19 December 2023, following financial difficulties.

"Virgin Group has no ownership interest in Lloyd’s Development, but as the licensor of the Virgin brand, tried to find solutions, including offering to purchase the hotel in order to keep the hotel open, keep the team employed and to ensure all suppliers were paid.

"Unfortunately, the lenders did not accept Virgin’s offers and proceeded to pursue a sales process with the hotel closed.  We understand the impact their decision has had on Lloyds Developments’ suppliers, including musicians who performed at the hotel, and we feel deeply for them during this uncertain time."