Scottish restaurateurs confidence remains low

Confidence surrounding the economic downturn in the Scottish restaurant industry has hit a worrying low, according to an investigation by national newspaper The Scotsman.

The survey found that many restaurateurs are leaving the industry and those still in business are struggling with the cost of importing ingredients from the continent due to the weak pound against the euro.

Scotland has 6,000 restaurants with an annual turnover of £1.8billion.

Alex Buchanan, editor of Catering Scotland told the newspaper that 2009 would be the year that sieves out the bad restaurants and determines which ones are stepping up their game.

The survey estimated that due to the collapse of the pound against the euro up to 30% has been knocked off the wages of European chefs and the newspaper predicts that many chefs may choose to go back home.

It is not all doom and gloom though. The Scotsman found that many in the tourist industry think the weak pound will attract more people to the UK and Malcolm Duck, chairman of Edinburgh's Restaurant Association agrees with this sentiment: "Restaurants go to the wall every year and January and February are going to be very, very tough. But the weak pound may bring in more tourists."

Words: Clare Riley

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