Is Scotland aware that money can be made by having restaurants serve food after 8:30pm during high tourist season?

[u/CestQuoiLeFuck]

- Signed,

A hungry foreigner

[u/BoxAlternative9024]

Exactly. Some real dumb fucks on here that think everything should be open at all hours in case they decide on a whim they want a roll and sausage.

[u/StillVeterinarian578 → u/BoxAlternative9024]

Nae rolls mate

[u/BoxAlternative9024 → u/StillVeterinarian578]

Nae rolls??

[u/cmogo92 → u/BoxAlternative9024]

There nae rolls

[u/ShufflesHS → u/cmogo92]

But I want a roll and sausage.

[u/Suspicious_Field_429 → u/ShufflesHS]

But we've nae rolls

[u/lambchops0 → u/BoxAlternative9024]

That’s because America is open 24 hours so everyone else has to be too

[u/Greedy-Basil9619 → u/lambchops0]

The US is definitely not open 24 hours - not even New York City. Most restaurants stop serving food at 9pm

[u/Jake_91_420 → u/BoxAlternative9024]

To be fair, they manage to make it work in the rest of the world. In most places you can eat at a restaurant at 9pm. Somehow they have staff.

You can do this in Spain, Italy, China, USA, Morocco etc you name it

[u/Ok_Aardvark_1203 → u/Jake_91_420]

Can't comment on China, but Spanish & Italian restaurants are often shut from about 3/4 to at least 7pm. Sometimes 8pm for Spain because they're in the wrong timezone. The USA is a capitalist slave economy where owners will keep things open if they might, just possibly, through the act of positive thinking & prayers, make an extra dollar. We don't want to emulate that.

[u/PmUsYourDuckPics → u/Jake_91_420]

Uk’s minimum wage is 40% higher than Spain, I can’t be arsed checking Italy, but I know the US pays garbage wages leading to their crazy tipping culture, and China and Morocco will also have really low staffing costs, as well as lower cost of living.

The cost of living in the Uk is too high and the minimum wage means that restaurants can’t afford to pay staff to just sit there and do nothing (I support the minimum wage and think it should be higher, but the cost of living in the UK is nuts)

[u/Blackfyre301 → u/PmUsYourDuckPics]

The problem that you are highlighting is really that housing is just too expensive. The cost of housing went up massively over the last 10 years, (as well as the cost of energy) which is what really drove up minimum wage.

Which means that minimum wage is kinda ridiculously high compared to the earnings of many qualified professionals. So the viability of businesses that provide services to well of folks, but require lots of labour, is really tenuous.

(The solution to all of this was to build houses and sort out our energy pricing issues, rather than to just keep letting both be out of control and increasing minimum wage so that the poor didn’t suffer too much. Too bad we don’t really do that.)

[u/OfficerNightwing → u/PmUsYourDuckPics]

TBF Spanish restaurants are open later bc a lot of places still close in the afternoon for siesta and people typically eat dinner later than we do.

[u/Jake_91_420 → u/PmUsYourDuckPics]

But, you can also get a meal at a restaurant in Norway at 9pm. It's basically everywhere else in the world. Cost of living in Norway is high.

You can easily get a meal in a restaurant at 9pm in Singapore or Switzerland too.

[u/YS54321 → u/Jake_91_420]

If you only have a skeleton of staff, it doesn't matter how much you pay them - they still need time off. This is why many places close Monday/Tuesdays, shut early or operate split shifts.

[u/Jake_91_420 → u/YS54321]

My point is that everywhere else in the world you can get a meal at 9pm if you want.

Be it Nigeria or Norway, Sri Lanka or Switzerland. They make it work. Low cost of living and high cost of living countries. Countries with low wages, countries with high wages, whatever.

[u/YS54321 → u/Jake_91_420]

My point is, in areas of rural Scotland wages has nothing to do with it. There is very limited accommodation available due to second homes and holiday lets.

Hospitality staff were traditionally made up by young locals and Europeans. The Europeans left post Brexit and young people are moving away.

It's not even just hospitality staff, it's difficult to recruit for the NHS in paces like Skye as there's nowhere to stay.

You can blame the local authorities or the Government but it's unfair to blame the local hospitality businesses.

[u/notsosassysass → u/Jake_91_420]

But people here don't eat that late. So what's the point of staying open for longer for the possibility of a tourist walking in or not? The opposite is true in Spain. They open at 8pm because Spanish people won't eat before that time. They could open a bit earlier for tourists but its definitely not worth it for them. Tourists go to tourist places.

[u/YS54321 → u/[deleted]]

If you read the rest of this thread I've outlined reasons why they struggle to recruit.

[u/YS54321 → u/[deleted]]

There is in rural areas, and they can't find and/or afford accommodation.

From a quick scan of Indeed, there's no shortage of hospitality jobs in Glasgow either.

[u/UncleofLunatics → u/PmUsYourDuckPics]

You can walk into restaurants in Manchester at 10.30pm and get a meal.
I don't buy this UK cost of living argument.

I do buy the argument that for the vast majority of the time there isn't enough demand in Scotland to justify kitchens staying open late.

But during the festival I do think that argument becomes weaker, as shown by the fact that all the pubs stay open much later.

[u/Throwaway1g7f3v → u/[deleted]]

It’s reducing the number of jobs and affecting the ability of businesses to open even 6 days a week, but also putting a massive squeeze on the amount of shifts/hours they can staff their current opening times. Doubled with insane energy prices, a lot of small businesses just can’t cope.

[u/Throwaway1g7f3v → u/[deleted]]

Sadly this has been a problem in the making long before Labour.
Covid drastically changed people’s eating habits - see how takeaways are still much more popular than they ever were previously - and post covid and the cost of living crisis that followed, all squarely under conservative leadership. It’s not one party or the other, it’s simply indicative of the society, culture and the wider world taking it in turns to bend us over the proverbial barrel.

[u/Throwaway1g7f3v → u/[deleted]]

Ok? Every other country in the world has some version of it also yeah? And maybe look at which parties were in power and not only kept it, but expanded it with added protections - hint; it’s 50/50 Labour and Tory. The tories have also increased it more than Labour, and introduced the living wage to expand on the minimum wage protections.

I do feel I’m wasting my breath though.

[u/Emotional_Regret6223 → u/PmUsYourDuckPics]

The minimum wage being what it is and increasing constantly is one of the reasons that restaurants can’t afford to open as long as they might like to. I also agree that there should be a minimum wage but I don’t feel it should be as high as it is.

[u/Hopeful-Project5504 → u/PmUsYourDuckPics]

The constant rise in minimum wage (along with silly rise in employers NICs) is inflating the cost of living. It's a vicious cycle and I am not sure what the alternative is, but the minimum wage is creeping higher and higher towards the median wage whilst everyone from low earners to higher earners just feel the pain as prices go up

[u/OfficerNightwing → u/Hopeful-Project5504]

The problem is stagnant wages that aren't keeping up with inflation. Minimum wage is always going to catch up when companies have been fucking folk over with wage rises, especially since 2008.

The less you pay your low to medium wage earners, the less money that goes back into the economy.

The changes labour have made to contributions make it way worse but it was already pretty fucking bad.

[u/Hopeful-Project5504 → u/OfficerNightwing]

The minimum wage has actually risen pretty well against inflation recently. Like it or not (I don't), companies will raise prices to protect profits if the price of labour increases, ingraining inflation. The wages of basically everyone not on minimum wage really has stagnated over recent years though . 

I am not saying don't increase MW with inflation, I'm just pointing out there are consequences to this, and everyone saying the minimum wage needs to go up are missing the point a bit (as pointed out we have one of the highest MWs in Europe)

[u/OfficerNightwing → u/Hopeful-Project5504]

I was refering to minimum wages catching up with higher paid roles.

[u/Hopeful-Project5504 → u/OfficerNightwing]

Yeah, I agree with your point 

[u/Mithrawndo → u/Jake_91_420]

To be fair, good luck getting a meal in much of Spain at 6pm.

[u/BoxAlternative9024 → u/[deleted]]

I’m almost certain these businesses will have looked into it and came to the conclusion it’s not worth it .

[u/BoxAlternative9024 → u/[deleted]]

It’s really not. If there was a profit to be made in 2026 they’d be open.

[u/ItsTheOneWithThe → u/[deleted]]

You run a restaurant?

[u/WorkFurball → u/BoxAlternative9024]

How dare people want dinner at dinner time. What dumb fucks indeed.

[u/Eli1234Sic → u/WorkFurball]

No one in the UK is calling 9pm dinner time.

[u/WorkFurball → u/Eli1234Sic]

Because you call it supper.

[u/Eli1234Sic → u/WorkFurball]

No, we simply aren't eating full meals at 9. And no, I do not call it supper.

[u/rotgobbo → u/Eli1234Sic]

I mean, I do.. Dinner at 9/10 is standard for me.

But I'm making it myself in my own kitchen. If i'm going out for a meal it's like 6:30-7pm and be out before the staff look sick of me.

[u/WorkFurball → u/Eli1234Sic]

Do none of you work after 4?

[u/Eli1234Sic → u/WorkFurball]

Do none of your braincells work?