Brexit-related staff shortages hit Trump Turnberry

Brexit-related staffing shortages have hit the Trump Turnberry resort in Ayrshire, according to its latest accounts.

For the company’s accounts filed with Companies House for the year ended 31 December 2020, it said Brexit had affected supply chains through availability of drivers and staff, “reducing deliveries and the availability of certain product lines”. It also said prices had increased from additional freight and import duty charges.

Meanwhile, staffing was “a challenge”, with a combination of wage inflation and a reduced staffing pool due to lack of access to European staff.

Turnover at the 192-bedroom resort for the period fell from £19.67m in 2019 to £6.73m in 2020 due to prolonged Covid lockdowns, with an operating loss of £5.3m.

The business reopened in April 2021 and has since returned to pre-Covid levels of trading and management. It anticipated an increase in its 2021 turnover compared to 2020, but not back to the pre-Covid-19 levels of 2019. The company said a “significant increase” in staycation bookings had been driven by travel restrictions, which was hoped to grow the business's domestic market segment.

The accounts also revealed the resort had made use of government support, which it said “was helpful to retain as many jobs as possible, however uncertainty of the duration of support and the pandemic’s sustained impact meant that redundancies were required to prepare the business for the long-term effects to the hospitality industry”, with the average monthly number of people employed by the company during the year reducing from 541 in 2019 to 289 last year.

The documents also said: “Demand has been strong in 2021, despite restrictions on inbound travel and with many weddings and functions rescheduling to 2021 and 2022 there is confidence that the future of the resort is strong. Ownership remains fully committed to the resort and future plans are set to enhance the resort further.”

However, the resort's planned multimillion-pound redevelopment programme was put on hold in April 2020 “to be revisited at a later date”.

Former US president Donald Trump bought the property in 2014, which is operated under Marriott's Luxury Collection.