Theatres and music venues 'will lose billions if restrictions stay'
Theatres and music venues ‘will lose billions if restrictions stay’: Live entertainment industry faces devastation if Covid curbs last beyond July 19, report says
- Team behind the Government’s pilot events say in a new report that continuing restrictions will cause devastating losses for theatres and music venues
- If ‘high intervention’ measures – like face masks and attendance caps -are kept in place, the events industry would raise just 69 per cent of its 2019 turnover
- Indoor seated venues would raise just 59 per cent, costing them billions
Theatres and music venues will face devastating losses if restrictions continue beyond July 19, ministers have been told.
Even minor restrictions will see a big fall in income, according to an economic impact assessment produced by the team behind the Government’s pilot events.
It concluded that if ‘high intervention’ measures such as mandatory face masks, attendance caps and a ban on food or drink are kept in place, the events industry overall would raise just 69 per cent of its 2019 turnover.
For indoor seated venues such as theatres, cinemas and business events, the figure is just 59 per cent – costing them around £4.88 billion over the next year.
With even ‘low intervention’ measures in place – just face masks – the events industry would still run at only 82 per cent of its 2019 turnover.
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘These figures are devastating – they show we have to unlock.’
Theatres and music venues will face devastating losses if restrictions continue beyond July 19, ministers have been told. Even minor restrictions will see a big fall in income, according to an economic impact assessment produced by the team behind the Government’s pilot events [File photo]
It comes amid a continuing row over why the Government is sitting on the report from its Events Research Programme, which is chaired by theatre director Sir Nicholas Hytner and Carphone Warehouse founder David Ross.
Tory MPs have suggested ministers do not want to publish it because it shows mass events are safe.
Media minister John Whittingdale insisted yesterday the Government would publish the report before July 19 – the current deadline for lifting remaining restrictions.
‘It’s a complicated exercise… we want to be absolutely confident of the findings before we publish,’ he told Sky News.
Details about the effect on entertainment venues were contained in a series of slides and graphs drawn up by officials and presented to ministers.
The slides, obtained by the website Politico, confirm the pilots did not find a serious spike in Covid transmission. At one point there were just 15 cases across the whole program.
For indoor seated venues such as theatres, cinemas and business events, the figure is just 59 per cent – costing them around £4.88 billion over the next year. With even ‘low intervention’ measures in place – just face masks – the events industry would still run at only 82 per cent of its 2019 turnover
The taskforce also found that coronavirus passports could increase attendance of mass events by one fifth.
It said the use of certificates that display people’s vaccination status and recent test results would raise demand for events, because they felt reassured about the Covid status of others present.
On the other hand, the report concluded that there were risks to businesses if they introduce certification.
In one open-air cinema event which was part of the mass events pilot scheme, people spent an average of 3 minutes and 15 seconds reading the terms of entry, but less than 2 per cent then went on to buy a ticket.
There are also financial risks to businesses if introducing certification proves expensive, for example through additional stewarding and staffing costs
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