A survey conducted by the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) has found that many owners of UK night time businesses believe it will be not be possible to operate while enforcing social distancing measures without government support.
Of the 130 respondents to the study, which was analysed by drug awareness charity The Loop’s Professor Fiona Measham as well as Maria Measham, business owners expect to be able to operate from 40-43% of their businesses’ capacity once the lockdown has been lifted. If this is the case, 63.8% of respondents believe that their businesses will not be financially viable, which will result in a need for further financial support.
As Resident Advisor reports, the business owners polled predict an average cost of £31,131 to get their businesses back up and running, with this figure almost doubling to £61,545 for nightclubs. 55.1% of the sector’s workforce is expected to return to work if activity starts again once the lockdown is lifted, which is currently tentatively scheduled for July 4 for some businesses.
Respondents have requested an average lead-in time of 22.9 days for the sector to restart activity, while 70.8% of the business owners polled believe that public perception of COVID-19 will have a lasting impact on their business.
You can read the full report, which was requested by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), here.
Keep up with tQ’s rolling updates on coronavirus’ impact on the worldwide music scene here.
