Coronavirus in Scotland: Edinburgh bars react to new restrictions issued by Nicola Sturgeon

The owner of of a popular Edinburgh venue has said new restrictions brought in to the hospitality industry are ‘the final nail in the coffin’.
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Owner of Edinburgh’s Corn Exchange, Paul Demarco, said the new restrictions, which force all pubs and bars in Scotland’s Central Belt to close for two weeks, are a real kick in the teeth for the hospitality industry.

He said: “The last six months have been pretty hellish and I was expecting things to get worse before they got better.

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"I'm not surprised, not surprised at all.There will be no football, there will be no tenpin bowling, no american pool at the pool hall. No new miniature golf which we'd planned to open next week.

The Edinburgh Corn ExchangeThe Edinburgh Corn Exchange
The Edinburgh Corn Exchange

"It's just made things even worse than they already are, and I didn't know how they could get any worse.”

He continued: “The Corn Exchange hasn't run any events since march and has zero turnover.

"We are operating at a loss, no business can make money when they have the huge limitation of capacity, opening times and service restrictions. Plus all the stuff we have to do to keep the public safe, the sneeze guards, the PPE and just everything. It's very, very difficult to run a business in this current economic climate.

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“It's the final nail in the coffin for the hospitality industry.

"Will you pay the wages and will you cover the losses of the businesses that you're closing, that's the question."

Meanwhile, in reaction to the First Minister’s announcement CC Blooms bar and nightclub said on their Facebook page: “After 15,563 customers since we reopened and not one single case, unfortunately the Scottish Government deems us high risk and has decided to switch the lights off again to break the chain of transmission.

"We will be closed from Friday, October 9 up to and including Sunday, October 25.

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"All bookings between those dates will be cancelled. No cancellation fee will be charged.

“We’ll see you again at the end of October, when we will continue to provide a safe space for the LGBTQI+ community in terms of COVID and discrimination.”

In reaction to today’s announcement, James Withers, Chief Executive of Scotland Food & Drink said: “We all want to suppress the virus, but there is no getting away from the fact that this is a hammer blow to Scotland’s hospitality sector and the businesses that rely on it. The ripple effects for the economy and communities shouldn’t be under-estimated.

“This may seem a short term, two-week hit, but it is targeted at businesses that are barely clinging on to survival.”

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He added: “Critical now will be support for hospitality and it is good to hear of a £40 million support package. We’ll work with Government on the detail in the coming days."

Nicola Sturgeon said today hospitality venues across the central belt will have to closed from 6pm on Friday for two weeks in an attempt to control the spread of the virus.

She said: “Pubs, bars and restaurants have worked exceptionally hard to ensure the safety of their customers and I’m deeply grateful to them for that.”

She continued: “Because of the significantly high levels of infection in the central belt, we are introducing stricter restrictions in the following five health board areas: Great Glasgow and Clyde, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Arran, Lothian and Forth Valley.

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"In these areas, all licensed premises with the exception of hotels for residents will be required to close indoors and outdoors. Although Takeaways will be permitted.”

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