One of the capital's top hotels has said it could be forced to shut its café due to the "catastrophic" impact repair work on the North Bridge is having on businesses.
The Scotsman Hotel, one of several traders reporting sharp downturns as a result of restricted access along the bridge, said it is "suffering from the poorest pedestrian/place experience in the city" at what would normally be the busiest time of year.
And with work now expected to drag on until 2025 - five years behind schedule - the hotel has told the city council its ‘Grand Café' is threatened with closure as a result, with staff redundancies possible.
READ MORE: Huge Edinburgh mural to cover up North Bridge repairs as work drags on
Suzanne McIntosh from the Scotsman Group said since the hotel was purchased in 2017, the business has "never been able to trade unencumbered".
She said: "Firstly, we had the refurbishment and overall upgrade of the hotel which we carried out in phases to allow the hotel to continue to trade. Then obviously COVID. Now we have the ongoing works to North Bridge which continue to exacerbate our ability to trade normally.
"Before now we have been able to ‘manage’ the North Bridge works despite the works causing water leaks into lower levels including bedrooms. Diesel fumes from generators have been located on Scotsman land under our Plant Areas and we have suffered from restricted access in and around the hotel.
"However, the impacts now being experienced by the current works to the North Bridge are so significant that the hotel’s landmark ‘Grand Café’ is threatened with closure, potentially resulting in redundancy for the staff."
Extensive work to restore the 140-year old link between Edinburgh's Old and New Towns began in 2018 and was supposed to last two years. However, a series of delays has pushed the cost of repairs from £25m to £62m.
Earlier this year, it was confirmed the bridge may not fully reopen until 2025 after “previously concealed” issues were discovered in parts of the bridge not inspected since its construction in the late 1800s.
Ms McIntosh continued: "The whole frontage of the Scotsman Hotel and Grand Café is visually blocked by hoardings, Heras fencing, temporary containers and all the Balfour Beattie clutter.
"There is now no opportunity for the pedestrian to cross over to the Grand Café or the Hotel at present in the way the hoardings have been laid out.
"We are currently in festival time, normally the busiest time of year for the hotel and hospitality sectors in Edinburgh and yet we are suffering from the poorest pedestrian/ place experience in the city on North Bridge outside the Scotsman Hotel for our visitors and customers.
"The experience is so off putting that people are going elsewhere. The impact on trading is catastrophic."
Galab Singh, speaking on behalf of the Tron Area Business Group, said the impact on traders in the area is "enormous", adding businesses' income is down "40 to 90 per cent".
He said: "2022 was meant to be a period of recovery for businesses, but for us it has become a three-year pandemic."
Mr Singh added North Bridge businesses need 'urgent' engagement from the council "to avoid the loss of businesses and jobs".
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