The boss of a Moray food supplier to hotels and restaurants across the country has warned the hospitality industry could suffer grievously from drastic increases to business rates.
Speyfruit in Elgin faces the prospect of having to find an extra £34,000 a year in order to fund the extra payments.
On Tuesday, the Scottish Government announced a relief package for hotels, restaurants and cafes, which capped their rate rise at 12.5%.
But Speyfruit’s managing director, Ian Taylor, warned he might have to pass on the price increases to the hospitality trade after his firm was one of those excluded from the climbdown.
He said: “The hospitality industry is my only customer. People need food and we supply it.
“If I have to put my prices up by £700 a week, they are going to stop buying from me, so I can’t really afford to do it. The hotels and restaurants are the frontage but we’re at the coalface.
“I am continually told we need to encourage local growers and produce, but some firms won’t be able to afford this. It could end up like a wilderness in this part of the country.”
Mr Taylor warned he may have to close one of two sites on Chanonry Road South in Elgin, which employ a combined total of 50 staff.
The firm supplies up to 20 tonnes of pre-cut fruit and vegetables a day for eateries and built its reputation selling produce to shops and cafes in Portgordon, Cullen and Portknockie.
The Speyfruit boss warned jobs could be lost as he struggles to make the sums add up with a 61% increase in his business rates and a rise in his rent.
He added: “With everything that’s happening, I am looking at needing to find £2,500 extra a week – that’s just to stay where I am at the moment.
“I sell potatoes and onions at 20p or 30p per kilogram. You can see the size of orders which I need to find just to pay the rates. I like what I do, but it needs to be viable. I can’t keep doing it for nothing.”
A Scottish Government spokesman responded by arguing there were benefits designed to help hospitality trade suppliers.
He said: “On top of our business rates package, which will deliver an overall tax cut of £155million next year, we have listened to business and are now providing further targeted support for particular sectors and localities where it is most needed.
“The total rates relief package is now worth over £660million, and councils are empowered to apply further reductions to address any local issues as they see fit.”
