Hospitality bosses across the north have spoken out at their frustrations of updated guidance being published the afternoon before Mad Friday.
Today the Scottish Government set out additional guidance for those operating in the industry after the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged firms to cancel Christmas parties last Friday.
Since then, thousands of bookings have been cancelled in venues up and down the country.
While the guidance isn’t law, it outlines suggestions and encourages venues to consider these when operating at this time during the pandemic as new Omicron variant cases climb higher.
Has anything changed?
Additional reasonable measures that could be taken to reduce transmission include queue management, reducing the number of customers in venues, reviewing ordering systems and table service so less people are standing at bars, the reintroduction of one-way systems and potential use of screens.
While these measures are just guidance, venues up and down the region are reviewing risk assessments to ensure their premises are as safe as possible.
Martin Farmer, operations director at Aberdeen cocktail bars Orchid and 99 Bar & Kitchen, will implement a one-way system in one of the venues and says crowd management will be their main focus.
He said: “Our operation won’t really change as staff will still be wearing masks, guests will still have to check in, and we’re predominantly table service in the venues.
“We’ll be more aware of how many people are in the venue. We have hosts in both bars and they control the amount of people coming in and we have doormen at the weekend who can stop people coming in. They will then make sure people are socially distancing in the queues.
“We’re allowed 152 people in both bars. If everyone is seated we’ll run 70 seated and Orchid would have 15 people around the bar and Bar 99 can have 30. So 85 in Orchid and 90 odd in 99. This depends on how full the tables are.
Last-minute announcements ahead of Mad Friday
Down 600 covers since Ms Sturgeon’s announcement last Friday, Martin is frustrated with the lack of planning from the government saying “everything is last minute”.
“Our mini Mad Friday should have been last week and tomorrow would have been Mad Friday, which should have been the busiest day of the year.
“Our bookings over the past month have been busier throughout the week so they have been spaced out which is less common, so people were being safe and booking across the week instead of all coming at once.
“They have known the cases have been rising for a while so surely they could have plotted a roadmap for this? Or if the cases did get worse, have a plan in place as a backup?
“They have also not told people not to go to football games. That is like 6-7,000 people at Pittodrie, but that is fine because it is outside. But they aren’t allowed to go into safe venues across the city? It isn’t consistent across the board. This is all because they can’t get the funding.
“Fresh produce was ordered and prepped along with thousands of pounds of stock and staff were on shift who ended up losing hours. If we get locked down again, which it could happen, then how do we pay for that stock with a closed bar?”
Festive bookings all cancelled
And Craig Thom, owner of Aberdeen whisky and wine bar Faffless, which opened in September, now has no Christmas or New Year bookings as they have all been cancelled.
“We contacted our local MP to see if there was anything getting done about it and just got a generic email back from a member of her staff. It’s pretty disappointing, it’s basically a lockdown in all but name,” he said.
“They are making it so people don’t want to go out, but because they aren’t making anything set in stone then they don’t have to give any help to small hospitality businesses, especially new businesses such as us.
“This has hit Faffless in two ways, from our wholesale side where everyone is panicking and reducing their orders with us, and then from Faffless in Aberdeen from horrifically reduced numbers of people coming in through the door.
“Either lock us down properly and support us, or let us get on with it. The restrictions they’ve given guidance on are basically what we are all doing anyway.”
Confusion in the industry over hospitality guidance
Publican Don Lawson who owns Inverness bar Johnny Foxes feels no clearer on what is expected of hospitality venues.
Experiencing loss of custom due to the announcement last week, Don is worried that this may be the last week locals can get out to support their venues as he predicts more restrictions will come into play soon.
“It isn’t etched in law so I don’t think we’re any further forward – we’re just more confused. We have the most robust measures in the hospitality industry and we’ve got it in the neck every time the First Minister stands up to speak.
“We’ve been hit really hard and we’ve done everything we can to make the venues safe. The pubs are regulated and supervised, it isn’t at house parties or at home. We are pulling our hair out. We don’t know what is coming next.
“We believe there will be further restrictions coming in the next week or so. We understand what a threat Omicron is, but it is hard, hard going and we’ve been hit once again.
“Some hotels experienced several hundred cancellations. It has been carnage.
“A week ago we were looking forward to Christmas. Look at what has happened in the last week.
“All I can ask is for people to go and support their local community pubs, as it may be the last weekend they can do so for a while.”
For more on this…
- Christmas party cancelled? 5 ways you can help support local bars and restaurants in your area
- ‘Devastating’ number of cancellations at Aberdeen restaurant as 400-500 covers disappear in a matter of days
- ‘We do not have time to waste’: Nicola Sturgeon seeks urgent talks with Boris Johnson amid ‘profound concern’ about Omicron spread