Andrew McRae, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Scotland policy chair, said: “Local and independent businesses across Scotland will take comfort from the First Minister’s suggestion that Scotland may have turned a corner in our fight against the virus. The next move must be to ease the restrictions on hospitality firms like small cafés, restaurants, and pubs.
“Businesses will accept trade-offs as we return to more normal trading conditions. But Ministers should remember that covid rules place a disproportionate burden on small operators, especially as they consider the role of vaccine passports.
“The lifting of the toughest covid rules doesn’t mean that Scotland’s small business community will return to full strength overnight. Indeed, the trade lost over Christmas and the debt accrued by firms over the length of the pandemic will mean tough business decisions for weeks and months to come.
“That’s why the Scottish Government must put local firms at the heart of their plans for recovery, recognising that Scotland lost 20,000 small businesses since this crisis began.”