The firm which owns seven rural hotels is planning to cut over a quarter of its staff across the group’s hotel portfolio.

Stephen Leckie, the hotel’s proprietor, said that he expects bookings to be down by 30-50% this year, BBC News reports.

The number of redundancies could be reduced or increased, depending on the pace at which lockdown regulations on the hospitality industry are eased.

Crieff Hydro group announced that as of Sunday, it had entered a consultation period with its staff due to a significant decrease in business as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

The group said it hopes that through consultation, the number of compulsory redundancies could be halved.

Mr Leckie said: “When we closed our doors at the end of March, it was one of the darkest days in our 150-year history and this is another. I am personally devastated for every one of our team who could lose their job.”

He said that despite all the measures taken so far to reduce costs, lost revenue while the hotels were closed would amount to at least £17 million in the current financial year.

He added: “For every month we’ve been closed with zero income, we’ve had to pay £500,000 just to keep our buildings safe and insured. This would have a profound effect on any business.”

The company has used the UK government’s Job Retention Scheme as well as securing an additional £5m in bank loans.

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