
Has London's cultural scene recovered from Covid lockdown?
London's cultural scene was among the sectors hardest hit when the first Covid lockdown began in March 2020, and five years on some in the industry say it is still finding its feet.Those working on theatre productions were among the workers facing the most uncertainty with many on freelance contracts and not knowing when the curtains would go up again."It was just absolutely horrendous because we didn't know how long it was going to last," theatre producer Eleanor Lloyd said."The income went from a very healthy business that we'd been running here already for a year and a half, to zero income - I mean absolutely nothing."
Ms Lloyd said theatres faced many false starts over the course of the pandemic which added to the uncertainty for her and her 45 employees.
Some in the sector went on to find other forms of income, including actor Serene Sabah who decided to open an ice cream parlour."I remember having a conversation on a Zoom [call] with other theatre makers where we were being told that it might be that we never go to their theatre again," she said. "Will it ever come back?"Despite being among the hardest hit, theatre-goers did come back and relatively quickly, with numbers surpassing pre-pandemic as soon as 2022, according to the Creative Industries Council.
With the creative industries generating £50bn a year for London's economy, the lockdowns had much wider knock-on effects across the city.Justine Simons, City Hall's deputy mayor for culture, told BBC London that "culture had long-Covid"."A lot of the industry had to take on debt," she said. "There were a lot of job losses. This is an industry that's a very freelance industry, lots of small businesses and they were the types of businesses and jobs that got hit really hard."
She said City Hall is investing £10m to help boost the sector to "help it to continue to recover".Michael Kill, the chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association (NITA), said: "I don't think we've been given a chance to recover."He said the nightlife industry has moved from the challenges of lockdowns into a "cost of operating crisis" because of the rising costs, such as energy, and the rises in employer's national insurance contributions and the national living wage, which takes affect from 1 April."Many of them have just never had a chance to really get sight or of a recovery," Mr Kill added.
While the nightclub industry has been in overall decline in recent years, the owner of a soon-to-be-opened venue in Kensington, west London, is more optimistic.Barth Rougier said: "We are witnessing a real positive culture shift where people are really begging for more spaces, more spaces to communicate with others and socialise."The headlines have been negative over the past few years. "Places are shutting down, venues are shooting all around the UK and I think it's time we all took responsibility and come together and shine a light on the culture and socialising spaces."

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The Herald Scotland
7 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Edinburgh Festival Fringe street theatre shows under threat
But now the festival's famous street theatre events are under threat over a behind-the-scenes financial crisis. Read more: Organisers have admitted they can no longer afford to meet the soaring costs of running official spaces for performers, who have been a familiar sight at the festival since the 1970s. Local business are being urged to help pay the £250,000 needed to meet all of this year's street events staffing, safety, security and infrastructure costs, including providing temporary toilets and storage facilities for performers. The Royal Mile is thronged with visitors watching street performers during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The loss of a major sponsor for the street events, a shortage of public funding for the Fringe and rising city council charges are all said to have put the free outdoor performances from jugglers, acrobats, fire artists, magicians, 'living statues' and buskers at increasing risk. The arts charity has admitted it has been 'increasingly challenging' to stage the street events since the Covid pandemic, despite scaling back infrastructure and branding to drive down costs, which is also said to have made the street events less attractive to potential sponsors. The Royal Mile during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe The society revealed it was 'actively seeking' new support from businesses to help pay for 'core elements' of this year's street events programme, but may have to use some of its financial resources to ensure they go safely ahead in August. Chief executive Tony Lankester said there was a need for further talks after this year's festival to try to ensure the street performance are more 'sustainable' in future. Mr Lankester, who is overseeing his first festival after being appointed in January, described the street events as 'world-class and vital to the vibrant atmosphere in Edinburgh each August". The society was asked by the city council to take responsibility for the increasingly street performances in 1999 following the success of a move to close part of the Royal Mile to traffic during the Fringe. The society, which negotiates with the city council and the police on where performances should take place, works with officially registered street entertainers to allocate slots for performances the three-week festival. Most of the running costs of the street events were usually met by commercial sponsors, such as the Royal Bank of Scotland or Virgin Money, the most recent backer before the pandemic. However the only public funding in place for the street events this year is a £75,000 grant from the city council, the only direct funding it provides for the festival, which has been valued at more than £200 million to the economy and sells more than two million tickets every year. The Herald can reveal that the Fringe Society faces having to pay more than £40,000 back to the council following the introduction of a new charging regime for event organisers this year. The Scottish Government has helped meet the costs of putting on the street events in recent years but has yet to confirm any support for this year's festival, which gets underway in just seven weeks. A spokesperson for the society said: 'Street events have been an integral part of the Fringe landscape since the 1970s. They remain one of the largest international gatherings of street performers anywhere, they take place throughout the festival and are free for anyone to attend. 'We took on the operational running of street events at the request of the council in 1999. The delivery costs prior to Covid were generally funded by a single sponsor, which enabled us to cover the costs of staging and supporting the events. 'Since Covid, the market has changed, and the streetscape itself prioritises performance and the movement of people over branded street furniture, making a headline sponsor challenging to secure.' The Fringe Society described the street events as 'a central part of the experience of many residents and visitors in Edinburgh each summer.' The spokesperson added: 'We work closely with the council and local businesses to ensure they are delivered each year, and we're proud of the collaborative approach we've built in recent years. 'But the burden of finding in excess of £250,000 every year for the minimum delivery of the street events is increasingly challenging. 'We are actively seeking partners and supporters who, through activation, in-kind support and donations, can help us ensure we can cover the cost of the required core services to deliver safe, open, accessible and inclusive street events for 2025.' Mr Lankester said: ''The street events are world-class and vital to the vibrant atmosphere in Edinburgh each August. 'They are an essential, iconic and unique part of what Edinburgh offers its visitors and residents and the Fringe Society is committed to making sure this remains true. 'This year we have attracted some public funding to help us deliver the project, and the work of deepening the pool of funders continues. 'We're having some good conversations with local businesses who want to ensure that the energy the project brings to the streets is retained. 'Once this summer is behind us, we urge everyone with an interest in keeping street events thriving to put their heads together to find ways of making the project sustainable, and to be an ongoing part of the summer experience in Edinburgh.' Margaret Graham, the city council's culture convener, said: 'We're proud to host the world's best and largest collection of arts festivals, and the Fringe is an important part of this. 'In recognition of and support for its enduring importance, the Council provides significant grant funding to the Fringe Society. 'The new Fringe HQ in Infirmary Street has been a collaboration between the council and the Fringe Society. This is in addition to considerable operational support from officers to help stage the event, from street management to public safety. 'All of this is in close partnership with event organisers, and I'm pleased that we have such a good working relationship. The recent formation of a festivals leadership group is helping to shape a shared vision for the future of Edinburgh's Festivals, which bring so much to the city.' A spokesperson for the Scottish Government agency EventScotland confirmed discussions were still ongoing with the Fringe Society over potential support for the street events.


Wales Online
8 hours ago
- Wales Online
Anthea Turner shares rare insight into relationship with fiancé Mark Armstrong
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Daily Mirror
16 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Harry and Meghan's 'fate sealed' by Queen's crunch Trooping the Colour decision
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