Hospitality trade leaders said the industry has been “shutdown by stealth” and said the “damage has already been done” despite funding announced today.

Nicola Sturgeon said there would be £100m of funding for business affected by cancellations.

She said: “ We have managed to identify within our own resources around £100 million that we will use to help businesses, mainly those in hospitality and food supply, affected by our advice last week on work Xmas parties and further affected by what I have said today.”

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While the UK Government announced it would make cash available to the Scottish Government to support with an amount to be decided in the coming days.

Chancellor, Rishi Sunak said: “Throughout this pandemic, the United Kingdom has stood together as one family, and we will continue to do so.  

“We are working with the governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to drive the vaccine rollout to all corners of the United Kingdom and ensure people and businesses all across the country are supported.” 

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Pub and restaurant bosses in Scotland however said it welcomed the support announced by the First Minister but said it is “nowhere near enough” to cover the damage.

Colin Wilkinson, Managing Director of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association,  said: “Of course, we all want to do what we can to stop the spread of the virus and the licensed hospitality sector has gone to enormous effort and invested millions of pounds in mitigation measures and will continue to do so for as long as it can.
“The shutdown of the licensed hospitality industry, effectively by stealth, puts most businesses in an even worse scenario than last Christmas when there was some finance available via Government grants and the furlough scheme was in place.
“While the restrictions that we feared have not yet been imposed, there still remains a great deal of uncertainty for our industry which was beginning to recover, albeit slowly, and looking forward to reasonably good prospects during the key festive trading period.

“We have not been ordered to close our doors yet but many have no choice when so many bookings have been cancelled.

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“Last week’s call from Public Health Scotland not to have festive parties – endorsed the next day by the First Minister – killed Christmas and, I fear, will kill some businesses who will not survive without financial support.
“Our industry desperately needs aid to save it – and it needs it now.”
The Night Time Industries Association Scotland said it recognises the difficult public health position. In a statement, it said: “However following Public Health Scotland's call to cancel Christmas parties last week, our sector saw £1bn of damage to December revenue as a result. 

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“New restrictions this week will certainly cause additional economic damage and we await details from Scottish Government over the coming days.

“It is now vital that Government commits to fully replacing the losses being incurred by Scotland's small businesses on a pound for pound basis.   

“To do otherwise puts 100,000 jobs at risk and puts the very survival of the sector in doubt. 

“The £100m fund announced today is a drop in the ocean compared to the losses already being incurred by our members and comes nowhere close to protecting the sector, the income of staff, and the survival of small Scottish businesses. ”