Nightclubs have warned that dozens of venues across the country will go bust if a “lockdown by stealth” means they are unable to welcome guests as near to normal as possible on New Year’s Eve.
The head of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) said clubs are being “crippled” by the government’s decision to avoid a costly national lockdown in England that would have triggered greater support payments to businesses forced to close.
Uncertainty deepened on Tuesday when the prime minister, Boris Johnson, said he could not “rule out” further measures after Christmas.
“As an industry, we feel we are being sacrificed,” said Michael Kill, chief executive of the NTIA, which represents more than 1,200 independent bars, clubs and live music venues across the country. “If they want us to close, let’s just do it, and put in the support we need. But at the moment we’re are in ‘limbo land’ – they are allowing us to open, but they’re telling people not to come to us and to stay at home.
“It is a lockdown by stealth, and it will lead to the death of nightclub businesses, and the loss of thousands of jobs.”
Kill said he was “gobsmacked” at the inadequate provisions for nightclubs in the £1bn hospitality sector support fund announced by the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, on Tuesday. He said the grants of £6,000 per venue were “nowhere near enough” to prop up nightclubs over the critical Christmas and new year period. Some clubs make as much as a third of their annual revenue in December.
“It is nowhere near enough, it is almost a drop in the ocean for us, it is almost an insult for an industry that has sacrificed so much in the last three weeks,” he said of Sunak’s measures. “We are going to see businesses go under and jobs lost. Some businesses make huge amounts of money on New Year’s Eve and Christmas, money that they need to pay for January.”
He called for strong leadership and a clear pathway from government, with a long-term strategy for new Covid-19 variants.
In Scotland, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay events have been cancelled and indoor venues limited to a maximum of 200 people if seated, or 100 for standing. Compulsory table service will also be required when the new restrictions come into place on 27 December. In Wales, nightclubs have been ordered to close from 27 December, including New Year’s Eve.
Sacha Lord, co-founder of the Warehouse Project club nights in Manchester, described the government’s latest support package as “a disgrace and offensive”.
“The chancellor has been sitting on this plan for days now, and it is nowhere near enough to save the industry. Now the help has been outlined, it is simply not enough,” Lord, who also served as Greater Manchester’s night-time economy adviser, said. “How can businesses that expected to take up to 30% of their annual revenues during December survive on £6,000 grants?
“Irreversible damage has already been done and unless the package is immediately revised to provide adequate support, we are going to see more businesses close their doors for good. We cannot afford for the government to turn their backs on us again.”
Lord called for immediate reintroduction of the furlough scheme, extension of business rates relief until the end of 2022, and a freeze on bounce-back loan repayments until the end of 2022 to help nightclubs weather the continuing crisis.
A survey on the impact of the Omicron variant carried out by the Tourism Alliance for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport found that 51% of businesses had suffered a slump in revenue of at least 50% in December – up from 34% in November.
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Lord said the threat of continued financial strain and impending job losses was also placing an intolerable strain on the health of night-time industry staff. “Workers are fearful for their future, which also has a massive impact on staff’s mental health as we head into the new year and many are left worrying about the unknown,” he said. “If you know someone who works in the industry, please check in on them.”
However, the British Beer and Pub Association welcomed the chancellor’s support package as a “vital lifeline” that will “help compensate businesses for the dramatically reduced trade already being experienced in the run up to Christmas”.
“It will be absolutely essential that the government continues to monitor and support our sector for the long term as we ride out the pandemic and into recovery,” the BBPA chief executive, Emma McClarkin, said.
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