Music Venue Trust urge UK government to "do the right thing" with potential lockdown exit delay

This afternoon (11 June), Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd has released a statement about the upcoming statement from PM Boris Johnson on Monday (14 June) that will push forward, or delay the next stage of lockdown restrictions easing in England on 21 June.

It was only last month that grassroots music venues were able to reopen for the first time in 15 months due to the coronavirus pandemic, and after successfully saving hundreds of grassroots music venues from imminent closure via their #SaveOurVenues campaign launched in April 2020, Music Venue Trust have urged the government to "do the right thing" on Monday with the lockdown roadmap announcement.

The statement reads, "On Monday the Prime Minister will give a statement outlining how we move forward with the government roadmap on lifting restrictions. This 30 minute speech has the potential to create enormous optimism within the grassroots music venue sector. Dependent on public health factors, and the government’s approach to them, this announcement could finally kickstart the process of reviving live music. Regrettably, we also have to acknowledge that the announcement runs an equal risk of undoing 16 months of work by tens of thousands of people to Save Our Venues unless the government carefully manages any decision to delay reopening. Failure to take immediate action to support the sector could tip many hundreds of grassroots music venues into the abyss."

Davyd wrote that Music Venue Trust is "grateful for the support and funding that has been allocated but have to remind the government that the systems to allocate it and distribute it have created a number of issues. Many venues were left out of support and others are still awaiting payments they should have received months ago."

"The issue is not simply about a delay in re-opening or lifting restrictions," Davyd continued. "It may on the surface look like a short and manageable pause. But there is no provision in place to bridge the resultant funding gap should this occur. Without some certainty on exactly when grassroots music venues can start trading at full capacity again the majority of the sector, already barely surviving on life support, could flat line."

He added, "This is not an exaggeration; with no funding in place to mitigate any delay in reopening we will see mass evictions and foreclosures by landlords and creditors who ran out of patience a long time ago. The risk of business closures, widespread redundancies and the decimation of our sector is as real now as it was in April 2020."

Towards the end of the statement, Davyd continued, "When the Prime Minister addresses the nation on Monday it will be the most important 30 minutes in the entire history of our sector. The government has the tools it needs to avert a disaster, whatever decisions it needs to make. It has allocated an additional £300 million to support the cultural sector; the Prime Minister or the Culture Secretary can swiftly announce that this money will be immediately released to tackle the challenges caused by any delay to reopening. They can ensure confidence with a clear statement that they won’t let grassroots music venues go to the wall."

"15 months ago, Music Venue Trust set out to Save Our Venues and Reopen Every Venue Safely," Davyd concluded. "We need the Prime Minister and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to do the right thing on Monday and give us the certainty the sector needs that that mission can be completed. Don't fail us now."