'Bleak months ahead' warning as Highlands wrestles with coronavirus crisis balance

BUSINESSES and householders across Ross-shire are being warned of "many more bleak months ahead" amid growing concerns about the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

A week-long extension to restrictions which have hit the area's hospitality trade hard was confirmed ahead of a new multi-tier system set to come into place on November 2.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "I know all of this is really unwelcome and that this is harsh on all of us." She said: "This is all about saving lives and minimising the health damage of the virus. We do believe these restrictions will make a difference."

Highland Tory MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston said the area is dependent on a flourishing tourism and hospitality industry and warned: "We are facing many more bleak months ahead". He said: “We have already seen a very disturbing and disproportionate rise in the number of young people in the Highlands seeking universal credit. That should be of concern to us all. It is very worrying for what this bodes for our ability to retain younger and economically active people in the future”.

The Highland manager of the Federation of Small Businesses, which has many members across Ross, warned grant support "simply won't be enough" for some. He said: "Hospitality businesses from Portmahomack to Applecross, and those that supply them with goods and services, will be extremely disappointed that the restrictions have been extended. What they had been led to believe was a short, sharp circuit-breaker has clearly turned into a very damaging long-term arrangement, one that is also discouraging visitors from the south from heading north.

"Of course we all want to get the virus back under control as soon as possible, but we must recognise that small businesses in key sectors are being hit disproportionately hard by the current measures. We must do everything possible to protect the otherwise healthy local, independent businesses that form the bedrock of our communities.”

SNP MSP Kate Forbes, whose constituency takes in Dingwall and the Black, is also the Scottish Government secretary for finance. She said: "I recognise the enormous pressures facing the hospitality industry right now. Businesses in tourism and hospitality have been devastated by months of total lockdown and now the uncertainty of the future, created by efforts to suppress the virus.

“During the October holidays, the Scottish Government explicitly did not ban travel so as not to exacerbate the impact on accommodation providers who had guests booked in. The lack of travel restrictions meant that some national lockdown measures were required namely restrictions on evening hospitality.

“There is a growing problem across the country but largely in the central belt which is why the lower level of restrictions in the Highlands compared with the rest of Scotland allows more of our economy to open and operate, albeit in very challenging circumstances.”

Easter Ross MP Jamie Stone said: "I think there's an increasingly strong argument for local area relaxations in the locations where the virus is not so prevalent. The hospitality business in the Highlands are almost on their knees so I hope the Scottish Government will think about this because if we lose the hospitality businesses - if they go under - then local folk lose out badly and the Highland tourism product is damaged for the time ahead when the virus is beaten."

Tory MSP Edward Mountain said businesses want clarity on compensation packages and that "when it comes to restrictions, localism is the right approach" with "one clear unambiguous tier system, which will lead to greater understanding and indeed compliance".

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