By Alistair Grant
SMALL and medium-sized businesses across Scotland have raised concerns over an "unfair" disparity in emergency support grants north and south of the Border.
Firms insist they are "highly unlikely to survive" the coronavirus pandemic unless urgent action is taken.
The Scottish Conservatives accused SNP ministers of making things worse for the economy "at the worst possible time".
Firms operating in the hospitality, leisure and retail sectors in Scotland are being offered a one-off £25,000 grant to help them through the crisis. But in England and Wales, businesses are given a £25,000 grant for each property they own – giving them access to substantially more cash.
The Scottish Tories collected feedback from businesses in Angus, Dumfries and Galloway, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife and Perth and Kinross.
Stuart Atkinson, who has three fast food business in Angus, said: "Given that my business will only receive a third of the support that is being offered elsewhere in the UK it is highly unlikely to survive.
"We were promised parity with the rest of the UK, but the Scottish Government's application of this support falls far, far short of that promise."
Karen Forret, managing director of nationwide clothing company Wilkies, said: "The idea behind a grant per property is to protect each of our high streets. One per business will simply not achieve this."
And a bar owner, who runs several establishments in Edinburgh, described the SNP’s approach as “out of touch with business” and said it would be “impossible” for small businesses with more than one premises to stay afloat.
Coffee shop owner Jon Sharp has already spoken out over the disparity.
He pointed out that if his six outlets were in England, his business would be receiving several times the support being provided by SNP ministers.
Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw said: “If the SNP doesn’t want to listen to political opponents on this matter, it should at least pay attention to the businesses who are facing collapse.
“All over Scotland, firms of all shapes and sizes are sounding very urgent warnings to this SNP government. If it does not change this unfair approach, small firms will go to the wall and that will have a massive impact on jobs.
“We’ve been clear that we would support Nicola Sturgeon in her efforts to help businesses survive this crisis. But where her government takes a divergent approach, she has to be able to show why this will be of benefit.
“Instead, this disparity is only making things worse for the Scottish economy at the worst possible time.”
Nicola Sturgeon addressed concerns over the disparity at the Scottish Government's coronavirus press conference on Friday, saying: "We will continue to keep all of these things under review. We will continue to work with businesses."
She added: "We are passing on every penny of the consequential funding that has come [from the UK Government] for business support to businesses.
"We have tried to make sure that that helps as many businesses as possible.
"So because of some of the decisions we have taken, there are some businesses with a rateable value at a certain level that will get support in Scotland that they wouldn't get elsewhere in the UK – that's a decision that we've made.
"We've also been able to give support to particular sectors, support that isn't available in other parts of the UK – to the seafood sector, for example.
"We've given help to the bus industry, we've given help with water charges to businesses.
"We're trying to make sure that this funding, welcome funding, helps as many businesses as possible.
"But of course, we will continue to listen, we will continue to seek to help businesses to the maximum possible [level].
"Those conversations and discussions are ongoing."
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