Hospitality and tourism businesses across Scotland are to benefit from a £104.3 million package of support in the New Year. The cash is part of the £185 million package already agreed, and benefits companies with a rateable value in excess of £51K for the first time. Businesses have also been told that the Scottish Government is going to look at what additional support will be needed in light of moving mainland Scotland to level 4 and the Scottish islands to level 3 from Boxing Day.
The package sees £50.8 million put aside for these businesses who have not received support from the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund or Hotel Support Programme, particularly those with a rateable value above £51K, and some additional support to smaller businesses impacted by restrictions. A further £19.2 million will be used to provide one-off grants for hospitality businesses
The funding is part of the short term response to the Scottish Tourism Recovery Taskforce recommendations and follows lengthy discussions with industry to target support specifically where it is needed the most.
Tourism Secretary Fergus Ewing said, “It’s been a particularly bruising year for our tourism and hospitality sectors. The COVID-19 crisis has shattered previously successful businesses and we are committed to doing everything possible to get them back on their feet. These funding streams seek to throw a lifeline to some sectors that we know are particularly vulnerable and may not have access to help from other sources.
“The restrictions, as necessary as they are, continue to have a profound effect and it is fair to say that tourism and hospitality businesses are feeling it more than most. This funding will provide a vital lifeline in the build-up to what should be much of the industry’s busiest time of the year.
“The funding aligns in the short term with many of the tourism taskforce’s recommendations and I am grateful to it for its work on this.
“Clearly, in light of the enhanced restrictions announced at the weekend to control the spread of the virus, we will be undertaking further work on what additional support is needed by businesses, including for the longer term. There is a need to move quickly to ensure the sector is adequately supported and ready to go again, when the time is right.”
Stephen Montgomery of the Scottish Hospitality Group said, “Today’s announcement on support for the hardest hit sector in Scotland is very much welcomed, however this may too late for many. The Scottish Hospitality Group have worked with Scotland’s other trade bodies, on this, to ensure the Scottish Government, targetted the funding to those that needed it the most. Those who have fallen through the gaps previously, can now apply for grants and importantly, the funding comes without a cap. The cash will also benefit those below £51rv who are also very much in need. We have done the hard work so now is down to Government to make sure that the roll-out of this funding, which is still minimal considering the revenue that the industry has lost, is immediate. We have already seen the amount of late payments that people are waiting for from October, so I hope that the Scottish Government will have learned from this and devised a better action plan for delivery to these businesses who need it now.
He continued, “This must not be the only funding made available after the announcement on Saturday where yet again hospitality will be hardest hit. Ongoing support is now called for and Kate Forbes must now dip into her £340m reserve to fund this.
Other areas set to benefit include: £11.8 million for international inbound, coach tourism and domestic tour operators; £7 million for self-catering; £5 million for visitor attractions; £2.5 million for outdoor tourism; £2.3 million for hostels; £2 million for ski centres; £1.5 million for travelling show people ineligible for other support; £1.2 million for Destination Management Organisations; £1 million for B&Bs and guest houses excluded from the latest Non Domestic Rates scheme
Details and opening dates for all funding pots will be announced in due course.
Glen Ord Distillery played host to Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism, Fergus Ewing, yesterday. He visited the Distillery, the home of the Singleton single malt, in Muir of Ord to mark the reopening of the visitor experience as part of Diageo’s phased reopening of whisky brand homes.
Led by Managing Director of Diageo’s Brand Homes, Barbara Smith, and Glen Ord Brand Home Manager, Alastair Orr, Mr Ewing received a tour of the reopened visitor experience where new comprehensive safety measures have been implemented in response to COVID-19.
Mr Ewing said: “It’s great to be able to get back out and enjoy visits like this again, and I very much welcome the opportunity to mark the reopening of Glen Ord distillery for visitors. It is an example of some of the fantastic attractions that Scotland has to offer as our tourism sector slowly and carefully starts to resume activity across the country, with the vital economic benefits that brings.”
The reopening of Glen Ord Distillery is part of the global drinks company’s phased approach to welcoming back visitors to 12 of its Scotch whisky distillery brand homes across Scotland.
The company is also the leading private sector investor in whisky tourism with a £185m investment programme to transform its Scotch Whisky visitor experiences. This includes a new global visitor attraction for Johnnie Walker, the world’s leading Scotch whisky, in Edinburgh, as well as investment in its 12 distillery visitor centres and the revival of the iconic distilleries of Port Ellen and Brora.
by Stephen J McGowan, partner and head of licensing (Scotland) at UK law firm TLT
The announcement yesterday that Scotland is moving to Phase 2 of its exit from the crisis was welcomed by many. A notable exception was a large number of hospitality businesses, who had been gearing up to re-open outdoor spaces and start to welcome customers back.
Those hopes were dashed when First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced there would be no immediate reopening of beer gardens. Going further, she even appeared to suggest there was now developing evidence to suggest pubs were “hot spots” that required special attention.
Hot on the heels of this, the Scottish Government issued the long-awaited guidance to hospitality businesses on re-opening; and then, surprisingly, a document which as far as I know, no-one was aware of or expecting: an additional specialist guidance piece directed at licensing boards principally with regard to occasional licences, but with further implications.
I, like most, can hardly draw breath, but I know that the trade is desperate for clarity and guidance, and many have been asking me to offer my views – so here is my take on what happened yesterday.
Entering Phase 2 and the stepped approach
The First Minister made a series of announcements and in my view, there are a few key takeaways for the hospitality industry here. Firstly, she endorsed the proposed re-opening date of 15 July for hospitality and tourism businesses, which had been trialled a couple of weeks ago by Fergus Ewing MSP. I do emphasise the word “proposed” in relation to that date.
While she discussed certain relaxations on leisure and recreation, she made it clear that she expected people to observe a five-mile rule – so businesses hoping to attract people from other parts of Scotland or indeed beyond will still have to rely on local custom for a while yet.
There was some cheer, in that the construction industry can restart as of 22 June, which is good news for a number of hospitality developments that have been on ice for some time. Outdoor marriages could also be performed, she said, and one assumes that includes the traditional ceremonial way in which the lucky couple confirm their bond with a kiss!
Then came the blow for many pubs and hospitality businesses – there would be no opening of beer gardens or outdoor spaces, and this position will be reviewed again on 2 July. This has been hard to take for many, who had in good faith geared up to hope to trade from the weekend. That includes a steady cohort of local authority and police officials across Scotland, who had been doing their bit to help process occasional licences. The First Minister then justified this by inferring that there was science to suggest that pubs were “hot spots” and further analysis would be needed. I can’t claim that I have access to all knowledge on this subject, but this was news to me.
When questioned on this, the First Minister suggested that it was to do with the way people breathe, and that, if I understood her correctly, for example in an environment where people are singing and shouting there would be greater exchanges of particles. I can understand the principle, but I can’t ascribe to this as an accurate description of licensed outdoor spaces. There seems to be an unwarranted inference that these spaces are rowdy, with beer-swilling japery. That sort of behaviour does of course occur. But it is a very sweeping assessment and I cannot see how this characterisation would apply to many of my client’s businesses where I and others might enjoy an alfresco meal with families or friends. On top of that, I feel that the trade should be trusted just a little more as to regulation, supervision and risk assessment of these areas.
We shall await further information on this but for now, it seems to me that the earliest the outdoor spaces will open is 3 or 4 July. But even then it is so close to the wider date of 15 July you just can’t possibly say. What I will say is that, come 15 July, the desire for outdoor space does not go away. We will still have some form of social distancing rule in place and businesses will look to harness as much outdoor space as they can to maximise capacity and in turn the viability of the operation. The 2m rule will stay for now, but will be reviewed and a further decision made on 2 July.
The hospitality guidance
The release of this guidance last night was keenly anticipated and you have to appreciate that this was being watched not just from the trade, but by all the licensing boards, police and environmental health officers across the land who were hoping this would provide real assistance in helping them to help businesses.
To be blunt, it has failed in that regard. A large element of the guidance is general commentary and overview, and sources of other places to find other guidance. One extremely senior health and safety advisor, hugely experienced in hospitality and events, described the document to me as “wafer thin”. There are basic sections on how to assess risk and workforce planning, dealing with issues like PPE equipment.
A key and hugely anticipated section is on toilets. The guidance states: “The safe use of toilet facilities is still subject to further scientific advice on impacts and risks. Further advice will be issued on this subject in due course”. One licensing board member stated on Twitter “This just means more peeing on the streets”. On this particular issue, the trade despairs, and it is a real failure of the guidance that there is no clear statement on the use of internal toilets either for outdoor or indoor customers. Many of my clients have put forward extremely vigorous risk assessments as to how internal toilets might be used for outdoor areas: one way systems, one in one out systems, queuing systems, hygiene measures and so on.
There is a fairly decent eight-page “checklist” document at the back of the guidance, which is probably the best element, however for me, I would draw all businesses, all local authorities and all officers to the following key section of the guidance:
“It is for individual businesses in conjunction with trade bodies, sector organisations, trade unions and workforce representatives selected by employees to decide how best to successfully adopt and adapt guidance for their individual circumstances. Individual businesses and trade organisations will have responsibility for their self-produced guidelines, which should be regularly reviewed to reflect any changes made at government level.”
In other words, this says “Over to you”. It is now up to all of us involved in this wonderful hospitality trade of Scotland to pull together and help ourselves, roll our sleeves up and get on with preparing our own assessments. The guidance cannot be slavishly followed; for a start, it is not detailed enough to be the sole answer and the sole way through. But secondly, as the statement above confirms, this is merely guidance and it is not law. In order to get through this we must, must, work collaboratively at the local level to agree on risk assessments that ensure safety whilst allowing businesses to recover quickly.
Guidance on occasional licences
Lastly, but certainly not least, there was a little surprise package in the form of a formal issue of statutory guidance to licensing boards under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005. This was focused on occasional licence use.
As I inferred above, occasional licence applications have been the story of my life over the last few weeks as I, Caroline Loudon and our colleagues in the licensing team tried our best to get businesses into a position of being able to trade lawfully. The purpose of these was to give some businesses hope that they could trade an outdoor space not currently licensed – like a car park, or rear private land. Licensing board responses to these have, in the main, been excellent. Extremely pragmatic views to support businesses abound. This new guidance document seems to endorse those approaches.
A key statement is as follows: “Within the overall legal framework provided for in the 2005 Act and the associated secondary legislative regime, the Scottish Government considers flexibility and pragmatism in decision-making and sensitivity to the wider economic situation should be at the forefront of how a Board decides to operate (e.g. decisions as to whether to hold remote hearings) and the decisions made by the Board (e.g. occasional licence applications for use of space by a licensed premises previously put to another use such as a car park).”
The document is also a call to licensing boards to think creatively, saying: “The Scottish Government expects Licensing Boards to approach decision-making with a keen and focused sense on the needs of the on-sale business to seek to recover from the coronavirus outbreak”.
It does veer slightly in some places, such as a reference to road traffic in relation to the public safety objective, which as any private practice licensing lawyer will eagerly tell you is not a licensing consideration. But I would prefer not to be churlish as the document is, on the whole, a welcome statement to encourage licensing boards to be pragmatic and to recognise that their licensing policy statements, to which they will normally have regard, do not reflect the times in which we now live.
The final statement of the note is worth quoting: “Decisions have to be made within the legal framework contained in the 2005 Act, but all decisions should also be made with a clear focus on alleviating, where practical, the negative impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the licensed trade.” I have already taken some questions from businesses on the status of this guidance. The legal position is, of course, that this is merely guidance, it is not law.
In summary, looking back to the various announcements and releases yesterday, there is much to digest and ponder. One thing I do know for sure is that I, and others no doubt, will savour our first pint in the sun, and I cannot escape the image of Sir John Mills in that most famous of beer drinking scenes from the classic war movie, Ice Cold in Alex. Cheers to that.
The hospitality industry now has a provisional re-opening date of 15th July. Tourism Secretary Fergus Ewing revealed the date in parliament today. He qualified the statement by saying it would not be confirmed until 9th July when the country would be expected to be moving into the third phase of the Scottish Government lockdown route-map.
Pubs, bars, restaurants and hotels could open for businesses on the July 15th if all goes to plan, but it is very much dependent on the public health advice which would reflect infection figures.
The Minister said, “I would encourage hotels and hospitality businesses to prepare for a provisional return to trading – with appropriate safety guidelines – on the 15th July 2020.” He continued, “This is not a guarantee, and we may have to change that date. But by setting out the date we hope to have given the sector greater clarity.
“This date cannot be definitive and is conditional on public health advice and progression to Phase 3 of the route map. Businesses must now use this time to satisfy the necessary regulations and adapt to the new way of living.”
The setting of a potential date for opening was welcomed by various industry bodies including the Scottish Beer and Pub Association, UKHospitality, SLTA and the STA but all warned that the current social distance measure of 2m, which is still the rule, will mean that some businesses will not be able to open, if that sticks until the 15th July.
Emma McClarkin CEO of the Scottish Beer & Pub Association said, “The setting of a date for reopening is some positive news for the country’s pubs and brewers, and something we have been pushing the Scottish Government on for several weeks. This gives some much-needed clarity for the sector and will also give industry the time necessary to put in place what is needed to reopen safely on the 15th of July.
“However, there is still a number of challenges for pubs that can’t be forgotten. Under the current two-metre social distancing rules, we believe up to two-thirds of Scotland’s pubs will need to remain closed. It is imperative for the hospitality sector that the Scottish Government explores the World Health Organisation’s suggested one-metre rule for social distancing.
‘Other countries, like New Zealand have allowed their pubs to safely re-open up at one-metre distance. If this was followed in Scotland, we could save thousands of jobs which otherwise will be lost through redundancies.”
Colin Wilkinson, Managing Director of the SLTA, said, “This indicative date is an important step to a return to some sort of normality, but the main question now is what the social-distancing parameters will be.
“The SLTA and other industry bodies have asked the Scottish Government to give serious consideration to reducing the current two-metre parameter as we have seen in other countries and to bring the level in line with the World Health Organisation.
“If the current distancing measures are maintained, normal capacities could be reduced by between 60% and 80%, and each business will need to assess the practicalities, cost and viability of complying with the new guidance.”
UKHospitality Executive Director for Scotland, Willie Macleod said, “It’s good to have some clarity from the Scottish Government and a real sense that we are moving towards the reopening of hospitality and tourism businesses. Recognising that there may be a need to change dates and timing in the interests of health and safety, it will take time, weeks in some cases, for businesses to get back in working order, communicate with customers, handle bookings, arrange staffing and order supplies, so this lead-time is very helpful.”
While Marc Crothall, Chief Executive of the Scottish Tourism Alliance, the representative body for tourism businesses in Scotland said, “The Cabinet Secretary’s announcement that the majority of tourism businesses can reopen on 15th July this afternoon marks a hugely positive milestone in our road to recovery in what has been an exceptionally dark few days and indeed weeks for Scotland’s tourism industry.
The STA has pushed hard for an indicative date to be given to allow accommodation providers, visitor attractions, pubs and restaurants to plan effectively, accept bookings, make arrangements for the return of their staff from furlough, conduct training and most importantly ensure that all safety protocols are in place to provide their employees and the public the confidence and reassurance they need to feel safe to return.
He continued, “One of the most frequent questions we have been asked is around the publication of guidance for reopening; it will offer huge reassurance to tourism businesses that this will be available in the coming days, giving them a full month to plan ahead to welcome visitors back into businesses across all sectors of our industry.
However, he added, “It remains the case that urgent solutions or alternative measures must be found or taken to overcome the current 2-metre distancing restrictions to enable economic viability for many businesses.”
Calum Ross, General Manager of the Glasgow Hilton, says, “It’s very welcome news – something for all us to work towards although as always – the devil will be in the detail!
Stephen Leckie, Chairman and Chief Executive of Crieff Hydro, “We are delighted. We are very positive about this. They have listened and taken action. We understand there are caveats, and we understand absolutely that we have to wait until the 9th July until confirmation. There are many questions still. The 2m versus 1m still big issue. We cannot open fully until we have less than 1m distancing.” He continued, “Until the 2m ruling is changed we will continue to lose money. Some pubs will choose not to open until 2m ruling is dropped.”
The Cabinet Secretary also announced the creation of a Scottish Tourism Recovery Taskforce to assist with the ongoing reset of the sector. The task force will look at the sector’s recovery needs as well as actions being taken by the UK Government and the development of a new domestic visitor marketing campaign.
Colin Wilkinson of the SLTA also welcomed the news that the Scottish Government to seek a VAT reduction for the hospitality and tourism sector and added that the announcement that unallocated grant funding will be assessed and redirected to those businesses which have not been able to access this support before is also welcome. “It will perhaps bring some hope to those tourism and hospitality businesses which have been ignored so far,” he said.
“If this funding is to be re-routed to help businesses through the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund or Creative, Tourism & Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund we must see a greater increase in the number of successful applications – industry research shows that as of last week, only 14% of applicants have been successful with their applications for these grants, the rest either having failed or are still waiting to hear.”
Lord Thurso has been appointed as the new Chair of VisitScotland replacing outgoing Chairman Mike Cantlay. Announcing Lord Thurso’s appointment Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing said, “I am delighted to welcome John Thurso as the new Chair of VisitScotland and wish him well in his new post. Scottish tourism goes from strength to strength and I’m sure VisitScotland will benefit hugely from John’s experience and expertise in the industry to grow and develop Scotland’s visitor economy.”
Lord Thurso has been involved in hospitality all his working life. He became Europe’s youngest 5-star hotel manager when appointed Managing Director of the Savoy Group’s Lancaster Hotel in Paris at 27. Five years later he became founder General Manager for Blakeney Hotels of Cliveden, and then he became Chief Executive of Granfel Holdings – a small company with three hotels. From 1995 to 2001, he was CEO of Fitness & Leisure Holdings whose main asset was Champneys Health Spa.
John has served as a non-executive on a number of public company boards including The Savoy PLC, Millenium and Copthorne PLC and Walker Greenbank PLC. He is also Chairman of his family company in Caithness and for many years owned The Ulbster Arms in Halkirk. He was Grand Master of the Keepers of the Quaich of which he remains a patron and currently he is Chair of the International Wine & Spirit Competition, a trustee of the Castle of Mey Trust and a board member of IPSA.
Having inherited his title on the death of his father in 1995, he sat in the House of Lords until 1999 and from 2001 to 2015 was MP for Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross. He served on the Treasury Select Committee and was a member of the Parliamentary Banking Standards Commission as well as being a Commissioner of the House of Commons and Chair of the House Finance Committee. He was awarded a “Catey” for services to Tourism 2003, was made an honorary DBA by Oxford Brookes in 2004 and is a Master Innholder and a Fellow of The Institute of Hospitality. He is President of the Tourism Society. In 2014, he was made a Privy Councillor by The Queen.
Lord Thurso comments, “Scotland is an iconic national brand with a world class tourist offering and VisitScotland http://www.visitscotland.com does a great job promoting both. I look forward to joining the team where I hope the skills I have learnt in my hospitality career combined with my career in public service will make a useful contribution.”
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland said,“Tourism continues to go from strength to strength in Scotland and I’m sure John’s vast experience, in both the hospitality industry and public sector, will be a valuable asset for VisitScotland in the years ahead as we continue to showcase our country as the perfect place to visit and invest in.”
Stephen Leckie, Chairman Scottish Tourism Alliance, said, “I very much look forward to working with Lord Thurso, Chair to Chair and in my role as Chair of the Industry Leadership Group, to share and inspire industry with the Tourism Strategy 2020 vision and deliver that important milestone of £5.5 billion by the year 2020.
“His breadth and depth of experience and his knowledge and understanding of the hospitality and tourism industries along with his numerous high profile and esteemed roles in the world of politics and business will undoubtedly bring an exciting, impassioned and innovative approach to this hugely important position within our tourism industry.”
A number of Scottish organisations and brewers have formed a coalition to fight against tied pubs and pubcos and the matter was discussed in parliament yesterday. Following this, the Scottish Government has announced that it will undertake a study on tied pub tenancies following a debate in parliament yesterday.The study will determine whether tied wet pubs are at an unfair disadvantage compared to other pub tenanted models. After the debate in parliament, the Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism, Fergus Ewing said, “For the last two years the Scottish Government has sought evidence that demonstrates that the ‘tied wet’ sector is much worse off than other forms of contractual arrangements. During this time we have met with representatives from across the industry.”
A tied wet pub is a public house that is contractually required to buy at least some of their beer for a certain pub company or brewery. This is often at a steeper price compared to the market rate. Mr Ewing commented, “This is a complex issue, which needs to be carefully examined to determine whether there is robust evidence to any support change. Evidence provided so far has failed to look at the comparative benefits and any negative impact of the ‘tied’ contract as a package.” Paul Waterson from the Scottish Licensed Trade Association was pleased with the outcome of the meeting, “This is a step in the right direction. The very many reasons why tied pubs are bad for Scotland’s industry and economy are being listened to and so we are encouraged by the decision to analyse the evidence, which is already overwhelmingly strong. One note of caution however is the pace at which we see discussion and change take place. Scotland’s publicans will suffer if England and Wales move forward, whilst we lag behind.”
Ewing also added that for the study to be successful, it will require co-operation from everyone involved in the pub sector from tenants to Pub Co’s. Mr Ewing also added that the research is key before taking any action, “We will then be in a better position to consider whether legislation should be introduced and who it should apply to – which may be different to that identified in England and Wales where the make-up of the sector is very different to Scotland.”
Scotland’s tourism is booming according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics. In 2014, 15 million overseas and domestic tourists visited Scotland and spent £4.7 billion. Tourism from overseas increased 11% which was 10% up from 2013. Scottish Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing commented, “I welcome these figures which are hugely encouraging and show Scotland’s tourism industry continuing to grow as we outperform Great Britain as a whole.”
Mr. Ewing, speaking at a celebration of European Maritime, praised Visit Scotland for their work in promoting Scotland as a top visitor destination to people abroad. He also applauded the people of Scotland, “The success is also due to the warmth of welcome of our people. Their drive and commitment to showcasing Scotland on an international stage is delivering results and helping to provide a memorable visitor experience for our guests.”
The majority of overseas tourists were from Europe and the number of visitors from North America rose 28% to over 500,000. Scotland played host to a number of international events in 2014 and Mr Ewing praised these events for raising Scotland’s profile, “2014 has taken Scotland’s profile to great heights with the eyes of the world on Scotland as we hosted the hugely successful Commonwealth Games, Ryder Cup and the MTV Europe Music Awards and as well as being the Year of Homecoming.”
He concluded, “With 2015 being the Year of Food and Drink, we are determined to build on this success for the future.”
Overseas tourism visits to Scotland increased in 2013 according to figures released by Office for National Statistics. Overseas tourists increased by 10% in the full year 2013 and spent £1.68 billion, 20% more than in 2012.
The majority of overseas visitors came from Europe as did the majority of overseas expenditure.
There was a 32% increase in spend from visitors from places such as Australia and India (excluding Europe and North America). Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing said, “While 2013 was a challenging time for our tourism economy, visitors from overseas markets continue to grow. These encouraging figures illustrate the demand from long-haul tourists for holidaying in Scotland.
“The rises in expenditure suggest that Scotland is as a destination offering quality experiences and visitors are prepared to spend their money in our hotels, tourism attractions and restaurants as a result.
“This success is also due to the warmth of welcome of the people who work in the tourism industry. Their drive and commitment is delivering results and helping to provide a memorable visitor experience for our guests.
He concluded, “This year of Homecoming will see the eyes of the world focussed on Scotland as we host the Commonwealth Games, Ryder Cup and the MTV Europe Music Awards. People from across the globe with an affinity to Scotland as well as those without are invited to join the celebration which will provide a lasting legacy for our tourism industry.”