| Good morning, Almost half of Scotland’s hospitality companies and 90,000 jobs could be at risk if the country is hit by a second prolonged lockdown, a new study by the University of Edinburgh has predicted. The study, undertaken by academics in the university’s business school, said that if the recession following the Covid-19 pandemic is of similar severity to the 2008 recession, one in four businesses will fold with around 60,000 jobs at risk. However, the study found small businesses would avoid the majority of the pain with medium and large businesses likely to feel the worst of any recession or renewed lockdown. In the case of a second prolonged lockdown over winter, the number of businesses collapsing could rise to 43 per cent and around 89,870 jobs considered at risk. Message from the editor While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you. With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription. Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up. Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website. Your feedback is really important, please email me with any comments and suggestions at joy.yates@jpimedia.co.uk Joy Yates Editorial Director JPIMedia Scotland | 