An Aberdeen restaurant closed by coronavirus may not reopen until “well into” next year.
Employees at Howies on Chapel Street were made redundant earlier this week to enable its owner to focus on “rebuilding” the business through its Edinburgh branches.
All four locations run by the chain have been closed since March due to the pandemic.
Around 20 people in Aberdeen – understood to largely be part-time staff – have lost their jobs.
One former employee said they had been left “angry” as bosses broke the news the same day they announced the reopening of two of their three Edinburgh venues.
But owner David Howie Scott said this move is vital if the Aberdeen branch is ever to have another chance at success.
He said: “In order to preserve as many jobs as possible across the company we have unfortunately been forced to make a significant number of our team redundant.
“This decision was not taken lightly, but we have no outside space in Aberdeen and we are unlikely to consider reopening there until well into next year.”
Mr Scott said Howies had been enjoying its best ever year of trading but, even with government help, the financial impact of the pandemic was too much for the business.
He admitted he has “little idea” how popular the Edinburgh restaurants may be when they reopen next week, and added: “It shall certainly be challenging due to the lack of tourists, students, the dramatic decrease in local footfall and the large percentage of people working from home, but we are absolutely determined to give it our very best shot.
“We believe a staged reopening offers us the best chance of rebuilding our business and, as a result, long-term job retention and creation in what is a particularly uncertain market place.”
One former employee said bosses had “dropped the bomb” of redundancy on them with little warning.
“On Monday we were told to be free for a call on Tuesday and that’s when they told us,” they said.
“I have sympathy for them and what has happened to the business during Covid-19.
“They definitely would have needed to make cuts.
“Most people are upset, but they’re angry more than anything else.”
