Scottish hospitality scandalised by ‘unbelievable' level of Holyrood catering subsidies

Catering services at Holyrood have been subsidised to the tune of £680,000 since the pandemic began, compared to the estimated average support of £40,000 for privately-owned pubs, restaurants and hotels across Scotland.

The figures are contained in quarterly reports on the level of financial support required to run the catering services at the Scottish Parliament.

Stephen Montgomery, spokesperson for the Scottish Hospitality Group and owner of the eight-bedroom Townhead hotel in Lockerbie, said the "scandalous" news would be "impossible to stomach" for those working in the hospitality sector.

He said: "It's revealing that politicians do understand after all how much help struggling hospitality operations need. But the level of taxpayers' money given to their own facilities is genuinely unbelievable compared to the amount we've had to beg for over many months, and it all leaves us with an extremely bad taste in the mouth."

The Scottish Hospitality Group comprises restaurant and bar businesses including the DRG Group, Buzzworks Holdings, Signature Pubs, Montpeliers, Manorview Group, Lisini Pub Co, G1 Group and Mor-Rioghain Group.

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