Eat Out To Help Out: Scheme should have come later in the year, says Forres' Ramnee Hotel
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THE UK government's Eat Out To Help Out scheme has been useful but should have been introduced later in the year, according to Forres hotel.
A number of the Moray's tourism businesses were given the opportunity to raise issues with MP Douglas Ross and Visit Moray Speyside chief-executive Laurie Piper via a virtual meeting on Wednesday.
Stakeholders from 10 different Moray businesses took part in a virtual conference, hosted from the Enterprise Park near Forres, with the Eat Out To Help Out scheme one of the main talking points.
The Ramnee Hotel in Forres signed up for the scheme.
A spokesperson said there has been a dramatic upturn in the amount of customers – but added that would have been better later in the year.
"November is historically the worst month for the tourism industry – and then add in the fact that the furlough scheme will be ending," the spokesperson said.
"There will be a lot of redundancies and people won't go out and spend. That's when the government should have done the scheme.
"Last week we turned 40 people away. We are trying to condense all of this into 12 days in August and it's really high pressure making money.
"There seems to be a factory mentality at the top of government that furlough ends and you ramp up again and hospitality doesn't work like that."
Visit Moray Speyside chief-executive Laurie Piper added: "In September, October and November, when there aren't as many tourists around, I think businesses would welcome the support.
"The Eat Out To Help Out scheme, as part of a package of further measures, could be a crucial tool in helping to rebuild confidence in our region's tourism and hospitality industry."
Moray's conservative MP Douglas Ross said he will report back to UK chancellor Rushi Sunak with the findings from the meeting, and will mention the possibility of the Eat Out scheme running outwith August.
He said: "The scheme has been really successful and I heard lots of positivity about it.
"What I hadn't really thought about until I heard from the businesses is that maybe it hasn't been pitched at the right time.
"Maybe in October or November when the furlough scheme ends it will be more important to get footfall through these businesses.
"This is something I'm going to raise with the chancellor and the treasury after this meeting.
"The chancellor is keen to hear how these schemes are going in Scotland. I can't guarantee he will make an immediate change but what I can do is represent the businesses that made those comments to me and put as strong as possible a case to him."
