Scotland’s hospitality trade bodies have issued a dire warning about the impact on the sector should vaccine passports be extended across the piece.
The joint statement from the Night Time Industries Association, Scottish Beer & Pub Association, Scottish Licensed Trade Association, Scottish Hospitality Group and UK Hospitality, warned more than three quarters of hospitality businesses faced collapse without further economic support from the government should the policy be extended.
Its prediction was based on a survey of more than 150 businesses, more than 83% of which say turnover is down by more than 10% on pre-pandemic levels.
It was clear that Scotland’s hospitality sector was in a “precarious” situation, the trade bodies said in a joint statement.
“Four out of five (83.6%) businesses are significantly below pre-pandemic levels and with inflation, debt levels and other costs rising, the sector is facing a very difficult winter ahead.
“The survey also shows that Covid certification has a hugely negative impact on businesses already caught by the policy and any extension will have a devastating impact on the wider hospitality sector. Three quarters (76.2%) say they would not survive without further economic support from Government, should the policy be extended.”
It was a similarly worrying picture for staff: more than 95% of businesses said that if trade reduced in line with expectations, they would have to reduce staff hours by the same or greater percentage as the loss of turnover.
“Given that turnover has reduced by 20% to 40% for businesses impacted by the scheme, this would be a devastating blow for the sector’s 100,000 workers just in the run-up to Christmas,” the trade bodies said.
They called on the Scottish government to take this into consideration when making the decision on any extension of the covid certification and provide economic support to keep thousands of businesses afloat.
