Covid: Venue owners react to 21 June reopening delay

Corporation nightclub in Sheffield is also a live music venue, and has been closed for more than a year

Nightclub owners and other venues have spoken about the effects the month-long delay in the lifting of coronavirus restrictions will have on their businesses.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier confirmed a four-week delay on the planned 21 June ending of restrictions.

Sheffield's Corporation nightclub said the decision meant £160,000 in lost revenue.

Halifax's Piece Hall venue said the move "reduced income and confidence".

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The decision to extend current restrictions has been made because of concerns about rising number of cases of the Delta variant.

Scientists advising the government had warned of a "significant resurgence" in people needing hospital treatment for Covid-19 if stage four of easing the lockdown went ahead on 21 June.

It will mean nightclubs must stay closed and sporting events, pubs and cinemas will keep capacity limits in place.

Larger events, such as the Great Yorkshire Show, will also be affected.

'Reopening was key'

Mark Hobson, managing director of Corporation in Sheffield city centre, said: "The effect will be £160,000 lost in turnover, plus the financial impact to our staff, engineers, support crew, who have all been working towards this date.

"As a nightclub and a live band venue, we have been closed for a year-and-a-half, and this reopening was key.

"We need a date to stick to - he has to stick to a date."

'Let's move forward'

Nick Simmonite, of Unight Sheffield, a charity which represents the city's night-time community, said: "It's devastating, we've worked hard to make sure we're ready to go next week - that includes contacting our suppliers, those of them who still exist.

"I'd like the restrictions to be sensibly lifted, let's move forward, we may need to maintain some of the social distancing - but give us a break.

"If you're not going to give us a break, we absolutely need some support."

'Too late'

John O'Donoghue, owner of Home nightclub in Lincoln, said it had been a "last-minute announcement"

"As a business, you are left guessing in advance what the outcome is going to be and making those decisions," he said.

"I think it was fairly clear from last week that there was going to be some kind of delay.

"That's too late because we had already recruited the staff, we had already made the preparations in terms of our customers."

'Clearly disappointing'

The Piece Hall in Halifax currently can accommodate 2,000 people, which is a two-thirds reduction on its pre-pandemic capacity.

Nicky Chance-Thompson, its chief executive officer, said: "The virus has been very unpredictable in its nature, so the news is not unexpected but clearly disappointing for us and the sector but probably the right thing to do given the data they're having to consider.

"It's reduced income but it's also reduced confidence as time goes on and people get less used to being together, it has an impact on how people spend their money on retail and how often they visit hospitality outlets.

"We've already seen a drop in the frequency of visits to hospitality since we reopened. My concern is, as time goes on, how do we rebuild that confidence again, stay out and shop, eat and drink?"

'We can cope'

Amy Sanderson, of City Varieties Music Hall in Leeds, said: "We can cope with four more weeks, but if it's another four weeks after that then things start to look pretty bleak again.

"Everything has been building towards the 21st of June, but we always knew it maybe couldn't happen. We did look at not opening for full capacity until the 29th of June to give us that additional week."