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Brexit impact bigger than Covid-19, says Fife caravan park boss

Pettycur Bay Holiday Park director Tommy Wallace. Image: Steve Brown/DC Thomson.
Pettycur Bay Holiday Park director Tommy Wallace. Image: Steve Brown/DC Thomson.

Brexit is having a “huge” impact on hospitality and tourism business and must be addressed, according to one of the owners of a Fife caravan park.

Tommy Wallace is one of the family owners at Pettycur Bay Holiday Park in Fife.

He said the holiday park is facing staff and supply chain issues.

Mr Wallace added Covid-19 has been blamed for the problems over the past 18 months, but he believes Brexit has had more of an impact.

“Staffing is the most pressing issue, with a shortage of experienced chefs, but other roles too.

“The costs of certain materials we use on the holiday park have rocketed, as have the costs of us buying holiday homes from the trade.

“We are faced with the dilemma of whether to pass that onto the consumer or not.

“The cost of lorry transport is affected when we pay to transport brand new holiday homes from Hull.”

Mr Wallace is calling on the Scottish Government to take action.

“Many day-to-day costs are affected. It is having a huge impact.”

Mr Wallace also criticised the government for “mixed messaging” during the pandemic.

He said the ever-changing rules caused confusion for guests.

Bosses at Pettycur Bay Holiday Park have criticised the Scottish Government for mixed messaging around the pandemic.

“There was constant mixed messaging from those in charge with something like 68 changes to the hospitality industry rules and restrictions throughout the pandemic.

“As a customer-facing business, our staff were the ones that had to explain rules to frustrated customers so it was a real challenge.

“A lot of rules were open to different interpretation for application.”

Brexit rejected by Scottish people

In response, a Scottish Government spokesperson said it was doing everything it could to support businesses through Brexit.

The spokesperson said the changing Covid-19 restrictions were necessary to keep people safe.

The spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government is using all the levers at its disposable to help businesses cope with the impact of Brexit.

“These are an inevitable consequence of the UK Government decision to leave not just the EU but the single market and customs union, a move that Scottish people emphatically rejected at the EU referendum.

“As the pandemic has developed it has been necessary to change the restrictions to keep people safe.

“We do not want to keep restrictions in place for any longer than required.”

Sales down almost £1m due to Covid-19

Accounts for the business show turnover fell almost £1 million last year.

Pettycur Bay Holiday Park saw sales drop 17% to £4.3m for the year ending February 28 2021, down from £5.2m in 2020.

Pre-tax profits rose to £1.1m, up from £677,000 the year before.

But Mr Wallace said it was a “very challenging” time for all businesses in the sector.

Sales fell with Pettycur Bay Holiday Park forced to close for much of 2020.

Prior to the Covid-enforced lockdown, the business had been on track to enjoy its best-ever year for weddings.

He said: “Some areas were well down such as weddings, parties, events and of course, the food and drink side when we had to close completely during the lockdowns.

“Other aspects of our operation were nominally affected.

“Others picked up over expectation, such as hires and hotel stays in the Bay Hotel with the booming staycation market.”

Great support from loyal customers

He was pleased with the support from local people.

They flocked back once the lifting of restrictions allowed them to do so.

“We certainly didn’t lose customers which was heartening as we have strong local custom.

A loyal customer base at the Fife caravan park was praised by Mr Wallace.

“These people who were waiting to come in to eat and drink again as soon as they could, and our customers in holiday home ownership were keen to get back.”

The fall in turnover was not unexpected given the site was closed for large spells over the past 12 months.

But Mr Wallace believes figures at the Fife caravan park will be much improved this year.

“We are hoping for a very good recovery,” he said.

“For 2022 we’d like to see wedding bookings return to pre-pandemic levels.”