Pubs, venues and clubs are likely to run at less than half capacity once lockdown is over.
A new report from the UK’s Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) warns that pubs, nightclubs and live venues are likely to continue to struggle financially once lockdown is lifted. The NTIA conducted a survey of 200 businesses about the challenges they’d face re-opening with social distancing measures in place, finding that venues and clubs expect to operate at 40-43% capacity and that 63.8% of businesses don’t expect to be viable without support under these conditions.
The survey also uncovered that the average cost of reopening is expected to be £31,131 for pubs and live venues and may be above £50,000 for nightclubs and suppliers. As a result of reduced capacity and increased costs, only 55% of nightlife staff are expected to be able to return to work once lockdown ends. The UK’s current phase of lockdown may be lifted for some businesses on 4 July. Read the full report here.