The Scottish Hospitality Group (SHG) said its new process could help businesses avoid having to close unnecessarily. It has shared the process with Westminster and Holyrood governments and is urging them to consider using it as official guidance to help business owners manage the staffing crisis affecting multiple sectors, which is threatening the UK’s economic recovery from the pandemic.

In line with many other business organisations in recent days, the SHG has warned that a number of operators are being forced to close temporarily because of the delays and confusion generated by Scotland’s Test and Protect system.

A straw poll among hospitality firms by SHG found that businesses are having to spend around 40 per cent of their lost revenue to close and reopen – meaning that a £10,000 bill becomes £14,000.

The process is a practical flowchart that bosses can follow to assess the risk to staff while waiting for test results from colleagues with symptoms. It categorises staff as no risk, definite risk and potential risk-based on a series of prompts, such as vaccination history, if they have had covid and how closely they work with others. It then provides recommended actions for each category.

SHG spokesperson Stephen Montgomery said: “Business owners want to do the right thing by their staff and the public, so the lack of clear, consistent guidance from both governments is really frustrating.

“The fact that we need to make decisions which affect our businesses, the health and safety of our staff and customers, means we can’t afford to sit back and wait for Test and Protect to get in touch.

“This is something that Holyrood and Westminster must take seriously ahead of restrictions easing further. Our proposed process may not be perfect but it’s better than the vacuum we have just now and it would allow everyone to make sensible decisions that balance jobs and health.

“As an industry, of course, we agree with the principle of testing and tracing to stop transmission, but ultimately it has to be underpinned by a robust system that actually works. This, coupled with the staffing crisis in hospitality, is just another push into business closure, especially now that businesses are being asked to contribute 10 per cent towards furloughed employees’ unworked wages.”