With all eyes on 21st June, the date promised by Boris Johnson as the night when clubs in the United Kingdom can re-open, a stark warning has been issued by the NTIA (Night Time Industries Association), who claim that 75% of venues in Great Britain will be already forced to close their doors due to bankruptcy by the time said date arrives. In a statement, the NTIA’s Michael Kill said: “Time is not on our side and business owners are continuing to take on further rent debt throughout this period of restrictions; this will inevitably compromise their future and the regeneration of the industry. This needs urgent government intervention and will require the government to bring forward a policy that allows tenants, landlords, and government to share the burden of debt from rent arrears. Consideration must be given to a more robust code of conduct or adjudication process, which will require some mandatory or legislative elements within it, to ensure that everyone comes to the table to resolve this appalling situation we find ourselves in. We must avoid this cliff edge.”
With many clubs, such as Ministry of Sound, Printworks, and Fabric, all looking to re-open this Summer, line-up announcements have already been plastered over social media, with the likes of Oliver Heldens, Joel Corry, Gorgon City, Sam Divine, Jonas Blue, and Armand van Helden all set to touch down in the English Capital. But despite re-openings for shops, restaurants, bars, pubs, gyms, leisure centres, hairdressers and just about everything else, the one area which continues to be overlooked is the nightlife sector. With clubs still – inexplicably told that they’re unable to open their doors until the end of June – the Government have since warned that this date may be pushed back even further if the Indian variant of COVID-19 continues to take a firm grip of proceedings in the country, which has – so far – failed to close incoming borders, despite learning of the dangerous new threat.
Image credit: Carolina Faruolo https://www.cfaruolo.com
Main Image Credit: Ministry of Sound Club London (via Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ministryofsoundclub/photos/a.239972852843/10156937366317844/)
