Owners of Glen Mhor Hotel and Waterside Hotel in Inverness make staff redundant amid coronavirus pandemic
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A major Inverness hotel group has said it is trying to protect its business after it made staff redundant.
Several staff in various sections of the independently-owned Glen Mhor Hotel and neighbouring Waterside Hotel in Ness Bank have been told there is no work for them and that overheads including staffing costs need to be reduced.
The company says it is doing its best to protect the business and that other hotels face a similar situation.
It is understood redundancies at the Glen Mhor and Waterside Hotels, owned by Jon and Victoria Erasmus, include kitchen staff as well as front of house and waiting staff who had previously been furloughed.
One of those affected is Andrew Tait, executive chef for both hotels, who said his offer to take a pay cut in order to keep his job was rejected.
“I feel disappointed and betrayed,” he said.
“I cannot understand why they don’t keep staff on furlough when it is covered by the government.”
Mr Tait, who lives with his wife and two young children in Merkinch, said he had been given just one week’s notice that he was losing his job.
He said he had 17 years experience in the industry and had joined the Glen Mhor in February last year.
He has now applied for universal credit.
The hotels’ general manager Emmanuel Moine did not wish to discuss the details of the redundancies or confirm the number but said: “We are trying our best to protect employment and the business.
“We are going through very difficult times.”
Mr Moine, who is also chairman of the Inverness Hotels Association, said other hotels in the area were facing similar difficulties.
“We want to keep our heads above water,” he said.
It comes as tourism leaders from across the north Highlands signed an open letter to the First Minister demanding action to support the industry up to Easter next year.
The Inverness Hotels Association are among 75 signatories to the letter that also includes the North Coast 500 organisation and North Highland Initiative.
The letter stated: “There have been calls to extend the lockdown in the Highlands for longer, beyond the rest of Scotland or UK.
“Given the timing and realities of our situation, this could be ruinous.”
A major survey by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) also reports that more than a third of firms in the Highlands and Islands which have closed during the coronavirus outbreak fear they may never re-open.
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