The owner of a north-east coffee company has appealed to the Scottish Government to think very carefully about potential restrictions on hospitality to avoid the industry taking another “sucker-punch to the gut”.
Findlay Leask, owner of Aberdeen-based Caber Coffee, said hospitality is currently a key part of the income for his business, particularly as many offices are still shut due to the pandemic.
He warned that for companies like his that rely on bars, restaurants and cafes using their services or buying their stock, the economic impact of forced hospitality closures or other restrictive new rules would be widespread.
He said: “Only a tiny proportion of our business is in our retail market, and we’ve got very few of our office customers back up and running at anything like normal numbers just now, and that’s not likely to change until we’re in to 2021.
“So if you pull hospitality from underneath us, we will go back huge steps.
“And it’s not only us, but everyone in the hospitality supply chain.
“That’s everyone with wet products, soft drinks, spirits, the laundry businesses that supply them, and so many other businesses.
“But it’s not just hospitality and tourism, because if people don’t go out, they don’t need to travel, use buses, use taxis.”
He said the October period will be particularly important for businesses looking to generate much-needed cash.
Mr Leask continued: “I can probably rattle off half dozen hospitality businesses who would consider just shutting the doors if they were told they would just have to lose out on the October holiday trade.
“You’re asking people to retain employees, not make people redundant, and try to survive with 30% of their normal income.
“You wouldn’t expect an individual to do that at home, so why expect the hospitality trade to take another sucker-punch to the gut”
Yesterday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said there would be no national travel ban, and that people would not be asked to stay at home.
However, she did not rule out the possibility of the potential for closures of pubs or restaurants in areas of Scotland with high virus rates.
Mr Leask added: “She’s left herself wiggle room with which to sneak in some local restrictions.
“But the cases in Aberdeen were quoted at 20 per 100,000 when it was locked down, yet we’re seeing 50 cases per 100,00 in the central belt, and there are so few cases on the islands.
“So to broadly brush the whole country, I think it would be extremely difficult to justify politically.
“And for us in the north-east, we were already kicked when we were down with our local three-week lockdown and that was extremely difficult for the local hospitality sector.
“Of course there is a need for restrictions, and I completely understand that this is not a black and white debate, there are grey areas, and I am sympathetic to all manner of viewpoints.
“But for hospitality, I have grave concerns that a broad brush lockdown would have dire effects for businesses.”