Commenting on the Scottish Government’s announcement, Shane Taylor, policy manager at Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce said:
“Today’s announcement moving Scotland ‘beyond level zero’ was meant to finally mark the starting line of the marathon to rebuild our shattered economy. Unfortunately, while there are some clear and meaningful steps forward - such as the removal of physical distancing and the reopening of all businesses in the night-time economy - this isn’t the ‘beyond level zero’ that many envisioned.
“Businesses still aren’t being given a straight shot to deliver the desperately needed work to rebuild prosperity in communities rocked by the economic impact of CV19. Mixed messaging on the return to the office, continued restrictions on hospitality and convoluted approval processes and capacity limits on our live events sector will all act to constrain our recovery ambitions. For many of these rules, the timescales for their removal are yet to be laid out.
“Moving beyond level zero should have been the moment where the economic recovery truly began, instead, remaining restrictions continue to hollow out our city centres and put our world-class live events and culture sector at risk. The Scottish Government must immediately set out indicative dates and an endpoint to the COVID rules that remain in force.
“Crucially, this must remove any ambiguity on the return to the office, giving businesses and employees the space to come to arrangements which work for them.”