ONE of Scotland’s biggest pub companies has made a rare foray into public debate by throwing its weight behind calls for the two-metre social distancing rule to be reduced to one, declaring that failure to do so will result in a further “devastating” blow to jobs in the sector.

A senior executive at Caledonian Heritable, owner of The Dome in Edinburgh, has declared the Scottish Government move to set a July 15 date for the reopening of the tourism industry will “become inconsequential if two-thirds of the industry remain closed due to the unsustainable restrictions currently in place”.

The comments from Caledonian director Graeme Arnott come at the end of a week that has a seen a host of major players in the Scottish hospitality sector move to slash workforces in light of the downturn sparked by the coronavirus. Crieff Hydro group, Macdonald Hotels and Apex Hotels have all started consulting staff on redundancies, putting hundreds of jobs in jeopardy.

READ MORE: Scottish hotel industry rocked as major firms move to slash jobs

Caledonian has joined forces with a string of other big names in the Scottish hospitality sector, including Di Maggio’s owner DRG, Buzzworks, Montpeliers, Manorview, Signature Pubs,  Lisini and Caledonia Inns, to call on the Scottish Government to adopt World Health Organisation guidelines and impose a one-metre social distancing rule.

They also want ministers to classify pubs, restaurants, and other small businesses such as hairdressers and coffee shops “controlled environments” following a similar to model adopted by New Zealand and Guernsey. They say this would involve traders being asked to keep a list of customers in a track and trace effort, allowing the social distancing guidelines to be reduced.

Mr Arnott said: “Whilst Mr Ewing (Fergus, tourism minister) has given the industry a date to work towards, it will become inconsequential if two-thirds of the industry remain closed due to the unsustainable restrictions currently in place which will no doubt result in a devastating amount of jobs lost within the sector.

READ MORE: Insight: Crieff cuts lay bare severity of tourism crisis

“Restaurants and pubs are a huge part of the Scottish economy and a huge employer as a result. This week alone, we have seen a tsunami of businesses  announce mass redundancies, and we can expect this to continue if we cannot see a step change towards reducing this two-metre rule before 15 July.

“If labelling the licensed trade as ‘controlled environments’ were included in the upcoming government guidelines for the industry – this would give the responsibility back to business owners to ensure staff and customer safety and allow them to track and trace customers through a number of different methods.”

Mr Arnott also highlighted the group's willingness to feed into the work of the new Scottish Recovery Tourism Taskforce, announced by ministers this week to aid moves to reset the sector.

He added: “We welcome a taskforce being put in place, but it needs to take actions that will have real positive effects within the industry before any domestic visitor marketing campaign can be worthwhile.

“We are suggesting measures that keep people safe, whilst being more attainable and easy to maintain within the restaurant and pub environment. It is crucial this is examined if we are to have a sustainable business and economy to rebuild following this pandemic.”