Hotel group to make redundancies at Edinburgh chains including Kimpton and The George

An international hotel chain has warned hundreds of staff at three hotels in the city that redundancies are "likely" due the severe economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG), which runs more than 5,000 hotels across the globe under 16 different brand names, has several branches in Edinburgh.

The company confirmed three of the group’s hotels in the city are at risk of job cuts – these include Kimpton, in Charlotte Square, Intercontinental hotels The George in George street and Crowne Plaza in Royal Terrace.

The move comes as part of the hotel group’s restructuring plan which has been created in response to the changing financial climate in light of the Covid-19 outbreak.

A spokesman for IHG said: “This is a very difficult time for our industry, and we have done everything to protect and retain jobs for as long as possible.

“Our hotels are currently closed and while we are looking forward to welcoming guests back when we can reopen, it will take time for travel and tourism to return to pre-coronavirus levels.

“As a result, we have launched a consultation to restructure our hotel teams, which unfortunately is likely to involve some redundancies.”

IHG hotels have been closed since the pandemic struck back in March and hundreds of employees were furloughed under the UK Government’s coronavirus job retention scheme.

Staff have been made aware that plans for the consultation are in place for some of the group’s hotels and that job cuts are likely.

There is no indication at this stage of the number of redundancies that could be made.

An IHG spokesman added a small number of hotels across Scotland will also be affected by the consultation, including the Kimpton Blythswood Square hotel in Glasgow which will be involved in the new restructuring plan.

It is understood that no details of the consultation have been confirmed with the plans being very much in the proposal stage at this time.

A source connected with the hotel chain, who wishes to remain anonymous, said 600 people work for the hotel group across Edinburgh.

He advised staff who are made redundant to sign up to Unite Hospitality, a union set up to support those working in the industry.

It offers a helpline for Covid-19 related queries in the hospitality sector and urgent workplace advice.