By Scott Wright

A GLASGOW bar owner has warned there is a “ticking time bomb” under the licensed trade as campaigners step up efforts to ensure the sector gets more support to survive the Covid-19 crisis.

Rodney Taylor, who runs Drury Street Bar & Kitchen, said huge numbers of businesses in the city centre are missing out on lifeline funding because of the approach taken by ministers to determine who is eligible for emergency grants. His comments, which echo concerns raised last week by prominent city restaurateur Alan Tomkins, came as the Scottish Licensed Trade Association launched a fresh bid for the current support to be extended.

Under measures brought in to support businesses affected by the crisis, grants of £25,000 are awarded to firms which trade from properties with a rateable value between £18,001 and £51,000. Subsequent grants worth 75% of the initial award will now be given for other properties owned by businesses which fall into this category, as a result of extended support unveiled by the Scottish Government last week.

However, as revealed in The Herald, anger has been mounting in the hospitality trade because the use of rateable values to determine grants means many hotels, bars and restaurants do not qualify.

READ MORE: Hospitality trade slams ‘unfair’ exclusion from Covid-19 grants

Mr Taylor said Drury Street Bar & Kitchen, which has a rateable value of £80,000 is one of many licensed premises in the city centre missing out because they have “far too high a rateable value, but we are all small businesses.”

He said: “We do not qualify and want to qualify… we are all struggling.”

Describing the situation as a “time bomb”, Mr Taylor added: “I don’t know why they think we are big businesses because we are not.”

Mr Taylor cited nearby outlets Bier Halle on Gordon Street and Pizza Punks on St Vincent Street among a host of small businesses in the city centre which currently do not qualify for a grant. Those businesses operate from premises with rateable values of £130,000 and £148,000 respectively, according to the Scottish Assessors Association website.

Mr Taylor echoed comments from city restaurateur Alan Tomkins, who said last week that the grants system works against businesses which happen to be located in areas with high rateable values.

Mr Taylor, who believes ministers should extend the relief to properties with higher rateable values on a tapered basis, said. “Because you have decided to open up a business in the city centre of Glasgow, you are being persecuted,” he said.

“Drury Street Bar & Kitchen isn’t one of these things that can survive. We want it to survive, we hope it survives, and there are other businesses like it. There are hundreds and hundreds of them, thousands.”

READ MORE: Wine supplier to Michelin-starred restaurants in Scotland moves into home deliveries

Trade figures say bars and restaurants, which reports suggest will be among the last to open when lockdown measures are gradually eased, are being penalised because their premises have traditionally been rated more highly than other businesses. This is partly because assessors take their turnover into account when calculating rateable values, unlike in other sectors.

The SLTA has written to Finance Minister Kate Forbes to ask for the relief to be extended. President Stephen Montgomery states in the letter: “The fact that these businesses have a higher rateable value does not mean to say they are big businesses, and nor does it mean in any way that they are more cash rich, less at risk, or not in need of help. The fact is these businesses have paid into the system for many years and also need help now.”

Mr Taylor, whose wife Laura runs Booths Enterprise Amusements in the same Drury Street block, praised the support he has received from pub giant Caledonian Heritable, which has suspended capital payments and interest on sums borrowed to acquire the property. He also said Bank of Scotland had supported him by charging only interest on his loan.

However, Mr Taylor criticised the Scottish Government for not matching England by providing grants of £25,000 for each eligible property.

“Think about this in five years’ time when they are trying to claw all this money back and interest rates go up. Do they say, “Scotland does not have to pay as much because they did not get the full £25,000 [for each property]? Are they hell? So, who is keeping the money because they are getting the money.”

Mr Taylor said all 20 staff have been put on furlough under the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which opened yesterday.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We are determined to help keep companies in business and our financial support now exceeds the £2.3 billion passed on from the UK Government and actively works to fill the gaps in the UK scheme.

“We have offered a package of support worth £2.3 billion which includes 1.6% rates relief for all non-domestic properties in 2020-21 and 100% relief for properties in retail, hospitality, leisure and airports.

“We have also extended the £10,000 Small Business Grant and the £25,000 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) Grant Scheme in response to feedback from business. The RHL Grant is available for properties with a rateable value between £18,001 and £51,000.”

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