The owner of Broughty Ferry’s Tayberry restaurant has blamed visitors to The Open after missed bookings cost his business £2,000 in one night.
Adam Newth, 31, says he believes tourists attending the golf major were at fault after 25 customers failed to turn up on Wednesday night.
According to the business owner, those visiting recently have been making reservations at restaurants and then failing to attend or cancel — leaving business owners at a loss.
Missed bookings have ‘massive impact’ on small businesses
The world-famous tournament kicked off at the Home of Golf on Thursday, however spectators from around the world have been arriving in Tayside and Fife throughout the week.
Adam said: “You find that a lot of these people that are coming over for the golf, they book two or three restaurants for the night and then decide closer to the time which one they’re actually going to.
“It’s absolutely not fair for small businesses.
“It’s hard enough for us right now. We’re competing with the rising cost of living, we’re competing with the rising cost of staff.
“There’s also the rising food costs to compete with as well. Trying to keep a tab on food prices is next to impossible because things are so volatile at the moment.
“The impact of these cancellations is massive.
“On Wednesday we lost about £2,000 worth of takings. If you do that across a week, two weeks, a year, it can have a massive impact.”
Tayberry staff also losing out on extra cash due to missed bookings
However, Adam says he is not the only one losing money due to missed bookings.
The empty tables meant that he had to cancel employee’s shifts and send others home early.
He added: “I had a full staff in because I had 40 booked.
“That would’ve been four or five front of house, myself and two other chefs in the kitchen and the kitchen porter, so you’re talking the best part of 10 people on shift.
“We ended up cancelling the kitchen porter, we cancelled two of the girls front of house and then ended up sending another one home halfway through the night.
“Not only is it my business losing money, it’s my staff themselves.
“It’s their own pockets getting hit and they’re not getting paid.”
Restaurant may need to start taking deposits, owner says
The business owner says Tayberry may need to start taking deposits if people keep missing bookings.
Adam added: “It’s horrible to say it, but you kind of have to put the fear in the customer of losing out.
“We’re in the position now where instead of taking card details — because people were just giving us fake card details so if they end up a no-show they won’t get charged — we’ll now have to start taking an amount of money at the point of booking.
“The way I always think about it is if you booked a concert you wouldn’t expect your money back from Ed Sheeran because you decide you’re not coming.
“Ed Sheeran’s still waiting regardless.
“We’re standing in the kitchen regardless, just waiting on you coming.”
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