Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Coronavirus restrictions: What does move to Level 2 mean for hospitality customers?

The rules and restrictions on how we live with coronavirus change today as the country moves into Levels 1 and 2. We explain what that means for hospitality settings.

The majority of Scotland makes its most positive change regarding coronavirus restrictions today with nearly almost all of the country moving into Level 2, with many island communities making the move to Level 1.

Hospitality benefits greatly from the move into Level 2 restrictions with alcohol now able to be served indoors and people able to meeting in larger groups – both indoors and out.

coronavirus restrictions hospitality
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister.

Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, confirmed the change in Covid-19 restrictions when she made her briefing on Tuesday May 11.

She cautioned, however, that over the previous seven days there had been a slight increase in cases despite significant progress in driving down infections.

Ms Sturgeon added that, notwithstanding the changes, we must remain vigilant and warned that the levels system could move up or down to “apply the brakes” when required.

Moray and Glasgow stay in Level 3

All mainland areas will now move to Level 2 with the exception of Moray and Glasgow, which will remain in Level 3 due to high case numbers in the regions.

Case numbers in Moray are more than four times higher than in the rest of Scotland, explained the first minister last week, who added: “It’s against that backdrop that, unless the situation was to materially improve over the next few days, it would simply not be safe or sensible to ease restrictions there from Monday.”

Moving to Level 1 are: the Western Isles, Shetland and Orkney, all islands in the Highlands apart from Skye and the Inner Hebrides islands, and Islay, Jura and Mull will also make the move.

coronavirus restrictions hospitality
Eight people from eight different households can meet outdoors.

What does it mean?

So, what does the change in restrictions mean for people enjoying hospitality, whether that be in a bar, restaurant or if you are attending an event?

  • Six people from three households can now meet in public places indoors, and eight people from eight households outdoors.
  • For hospitality events, up to 100 people can be catered for indoors, 500 seated outdoors and 250 outdoors standing.
  • Restaurants, cafes and bars can now remain open indoors until 10.30pm with two-hour pre-booked slots – and outdoors in line with local licensing laws – for the purpose of enjoying food and alcoholic drinks. Customers must be out of the venue by 10.30pm.
  • Indoors, table service is mandatory as is wearing masks when moving around a hospitality venue. You should maintain two-metre distancing from people in other households, too.
  • Each person in a group must provide their contact details to the venue for Test and Protect purposes.
  • Takeaways can operate as normal with face coverings and social distancing being observed.
  • For weddings/civil partnerships, funerals and receptions, up to 50 people are now permitted to be in attendance.

Be sure to check with the venues directly when making a  booking to understand their specific requirements.

While they are allowed to welcome these numbers to their venues now, some establishments do not have enough room to accommodate eight from eight to ensure each party can maintain a social distance while socialising, so they may not be able to accommodate bookings of this scale.

If in doubt, double check with the venue directly.