Edinburgh restaurateur feels 'let down' by lack of government support

City-centre businesses at disadvantage

Paul Brennan says he is despondent

RESTAURATEUR Paul Brennan, of Dine Edinburgh, next to the Usher Hall, says he is despondent.

He does not qualify for the £25,000 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Support grant since Dine’s rateable value is over £51,000.

“Businesses in the city centre by default pay a premium rate compared to other businesses on the edge of the city and beyond.”

And after waiting three weeks for a reply, he has just had his application for a hardship grant turned down.

Almost all his 34 staff are on furlough, but he says he won’t be able to contribute anything to their wages as proposed by the Chancellor from August. “By then we will have been five months without any turnover. It’s just not going to happen.

“I don’t know how any business can be expected to contribute when they have no income and don’t know how much income is going to come through when we do open again.”

And he said furlough should be extended in Scotland since the end of lockdown was slower here. “Scotland has to be thought of differently from England.”Apart from business rates being waived, Paul says he has had no support from the government.“Hospitality is one of Edinburgh’s biggest sectors, employing over 35,000 people. Tourism contributes £10.5bn per year into the Scottish economy and attracts 15.5m visitors, but we have been left unsupported. I feel let down.“A first step would be increasing the threshold of the grant to cover businesses with a rateable value above £51,000.”And he is worried about what social distancing will mean once reopening is allowed.“A two-meter mandatory gap between staff, customers and colleagues in a normal restaurant will see covers reduced by 50 – 60 per cent at which point the business becomes non-viable.”