1. Uncertainty as to what is going to happen
Pre-lockdown: January/February and up to March 22nd 2020
January
*** text and news links to go in here to illustrate the evolving Covid story from its beginnings in Wuhan, China to how it began to spread around the world and the impact on societies and economies (eg with Italy being one of the first and worst hit in Europe)
February
Some members of the family deliberating on whether to go on a pre-booked skiing holiday to Italy. This meant transit through Milan airport, in one of the hardest hit regions of Italy at that time. The skiing trip went ahead. But this illustrates one of the dilemmas facing individuals, families and businesses at that time.
22nd February to 19th March – difficult decisions on holding large events
High profile sporting events such as the Scotland v Italy rugby international went ahead in Rome, Italy on 22nd February 2020 https://www.scottishrugby.org/fixtures-and-results/internationals/2019-20/guinness-six-nations-2020/22feb/italy-v-scotland
This happened at the same time as the Fraser family skiing trip and this was followed by a Scotland v France rugby international in Scotland on 8th March https://www.scottishrugby.org/fixtures-and-results/internationals/2019-20/guinness-six-nations-2020/8mar/scotland-v-france. The next scheduled game on 14th March, Scotland v Wales in Cardiff, Wales was cancelled with only 24 hours before the game as concern about the pandemic grew. https://www.scottishrugby.org/fixtures-and-results/internationals/2019-20/guinness-six-nations-2020/14mar/wales-v-scotland
Other high profile sporting events – with large gatherings of crowds – also went ahead during this time. For example:
11th March
Liverpool v Atletico Madrid UEFA Champions League football/soccer match, played in Liverpool with a full crowd attendance: https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/match/2027135--liverpool-vs-atletico/
12th March
Glasgow Rangers v Bayer Leverkusen UEFA League football/soccer match, played in Glasgow, Scotland with a full crowd attendance (the second leg of this match, scheduled for 19th March in Germany was then postponed): https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/match/2028218--rangers-vs-leverkusen/
16th to 19th March
The Cheltenham Cup horse racing event
https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/cheltenham/events-tickets/the-festival/
There has since been criticism in the media of whether or not these events should have gone ahead, for example: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/24/officials-to-investigate-potential-covid-19-link-with-liverpool-match
These example events highlight the difficult and fast-moving situation in early March in the UK in which businesses and the Government were having to make decisions based on known information at that time, and this especially so in the leisure, entertainment and hospitality sectors (such as the Oak Tree Inn and various related businesses).
Tuesday 17th March
As the national and international situation rapidly changed, two posts were put on the Oak Tree Inn’s Facebook page:
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Saturday 21st March
Government advice was for bars and restaurants to close, but the decision was made to keep the village shop and St Mocha café open and trading. This weekend (21 and 22 March) saw very good weather and the Balmaha car park was full with cars and people, perhaps knowing that a lockdown instruction was coming from the Government (which in fact happened on the evening of Monday 23rd March) and seeking a last day-trip to the National Park.
The shop and café were incredibly busy with sales and long queues. However there was a social media back-lash on the Saturday from locals in the community and others saying that it was irresponsible of the businesses to be open because it merely encouraged people to come to the area.
As a result the family took the proactive decision to close the shop and the café, having already closed the bar and restaurant.
Thursday 19th March
Visit by MBA students from Lomonosov Moscow State University Business School. The MBA students from the top Business School in Russia visited the Oak Tree Inn having studied the Case Study and worked on presentations on ideas for the business. Each team gave a presentation to Sandy Fraser on their proposals for the strategic development of the business.
This group were in Scotland for a one week study trip. The visit to the Oak Tree Inn had been scheduled for Friday 20th March. On the Wednesday evening however the Russian group leaders were advised by their senior colleagues in Moscow to return as soon as possible due to the rapidly changing global pandemic situation. Hence the visit to the Oak Tree Inn was hastily rearranged to be one day earlier. The group had to spend 14 days in quarantine on their return to Russia.
Friday 20th March 2020
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The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announces that the Governments of all four nations of the United Kingdom are instructing all cafes, pubs, bars and restaurants to shut from that night. They can continue to offer take-away services.
The specific announcement can be seen from the timeline 3:50 in the following video from Channel 4 news:
In response, the Oak Tree Inn posted the following Facebook post:
