Edinburgh's pubs and restaurants can reopen tomorrow – but has the hospitality sector been given the Government help it needs?

Not all restaurants and pubs in Scotland will re-open and some may be forced to make job cuts, writes Ian Swanson

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced measures designed to help the hospitality sector in his mini-budget last week (Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire)

Tomorrow is the big day. After nearly four months of lockdown, Scotland’s pubs and restaurants can reopen. There was a foretaste last week when beer gardens and outdoor cafes were able to start operating again. Now indoor eating and drinking will be allowed too.

But of course things will be a bit different - fewer customers and tables further apart, perspex screens, staff wearing masks and/or visors, and perhaps ordering by app. Covid has not gone away and the “new normal” demands a whole panoply of precautions.

But despite the Scottish Government’s green light for the hospitality sector to get back to business, the signs are quite a lot of bars and eateries in Edinburgh and elsewhere will not be opening - at least just yet.

For some, the physical distancing requirements - even the lower one-metre rule - mean they could not make it economically viable. Others point to the lack of tourists, who provide many restaurants with the vital surge in revenue that keeps them going for the rest of the year.

And some believe consumer confidence is just not there and people are going to be very wary of sharing enclosed spaces with lots of strangers. A poll last month showed two-thirds of people were “uncomfortable” about returning to pubs and restaurants.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s £30 billion package unveiled last week included several measures intended to help the hospitality and tourism industries which are so crucial to Edinburgh’s economy.

There’s the half-price August meal deal - variously described as eye-catching or gimmicky - to entice people to “eat out to help out”. Mr Sunak was clearly pleased to announce such an unusual government measure, but how much impact it will have remains to be seen. Some wanted it brought forward to align with Scottish school holidays, others argued it might be more effective later once a bit more confidence has returned.

The six-month reduction in VAT from 20 per cent to five per cent on eating out, takeaways, accommodation and attractions seems a more substantial measure which the sector would like to see made permanent.

The “kickstart” scheme to encourage job creation, with the Government paying the wages of 16 to 24-year-olds on six-month work placements, has also been welcomed by industry leaders.

But the biggest problem at the moment is saving the jobs of existing staff in hospitality and tourism. Big high street chains have announced large-scale lay offs and store closures. Even restaurants and bars which do reopen may well still have to make some staff redundant because of the reduction in customer numbers.

The Government’s furlough scheme was a huge help in allowing workers to be kept on during the lockdown there had been widespread calls for an extension of the scheme targeted at hospitality businesses.

Instead Mr Sunak announced a £1,000 job retention bonus - paid to employers for each member of furloughed staff they bring back and keep on until the end of January.

Mr Sunak acknowledged some of the money will go to employers who were going to keep on staff anyway. But for struggling bar or restaurant owners £1,000 is unlikely to be enough to persuade them they should keep on staff they cannot afford.

Despite Mr Sunak’s smiles, many in the hospitality sector may conclude they don’t yet have the help they need.

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