A GLASGOW business owner has hit out over a lack of communication from the Scottish Government who he claims left them with “not even 12 hours’ notice” about their closing time.

The owner, who preferred to not give his full name, claims that licensing changes were only clarified on the day they opened this week.

Pubs and restaurants were allowed to welcome punters indoors on Wednesday, as long as additional safety measures were put in place.

But nightclubs and music venues are not allowed to reopen until July 23.

The owner, therefore, believes hybrid premises, which are usually allowed to stay open later than pubs because they offer additional entertainment, should have been clearly instructed on their working hours ahead of time.

He said: “We just opened at 11am after doing a fair bit of alterations and signage, and at 12.30pm my manager gets a call from a Licence Standards Officer who phoned to say we were to close at midnight.

“We have a 2am licence and we took on extra staff to accommodate that licence and we also took on extra stock.

“To get a phone call at 12.30pm today, that is totally wrong.”

Citing coronavirus restrictions, licensing bosses clarified that these hybrid premises are not allowed to provide nightclub or music venue-style entertainment, they were instructed to close at midnight.

A spokesman for Glasgow Licensing Board said: “According to Scottish Government guidance, nightclubs and music venues are not able to open until July 23 at the earliest.

“In Glasgow, there are some bars which are able to open to 3am in normal circumstances, but only because they offer substantial forms of entertainment similar to a nightclub or music venue.

“As these hybrid premises are not currently able to provide nightclub or music venue-style entertainment due to government guidance, licence holders have been advised they should close at 12 midnight for the time being to ensure they comply with their licence.

“The regular closing time for bars across the city is 12 midnight and the situation for hybrid premises will change as national guidance changes.”

But the owner does not believe this change was communicated clearly, he added: “It is totally wrong we should have been told this prior to opening.

“If I was told this last week I wouldn’t have opened today. It is costing us money to open. If I had my late licence, I would have broken even but not without it.”

He explained that extra staff had also been brought in under the belief that they would be open until 2am.

“It will cost me £8000 a week and I have the heartache to tell three people now that we don’t need them. And I took them off of furlough for this,” he added.

“I am quite annoyed. Not even 12 hours’ notice. We should have been clearly informed ‘this is your hours’.”

It is understood that the hybrid premises will be able to resume their usual working hours after night clubs are given the green light.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We note the decision of Glasgow Licensing Board to ensure licensed premises are permitted to sell alcohol only for those hours where the licence relates to the premises operating as a pub. While this is a matter for the discretion of independent licensing boards, this seems a sensible approach to adopt.”