Still a mountain to climb
Kilimanjaro Live CEO and Concert Promoters Association vice chairman Stuart Galbraith looks back on some of the industry ’ s positive collective achievements during a torrid year , and considers what 2021 has to hold .
It has been a terrible year for our
industry , and it is extremely frustrating not knowing when we are going to be operational again . Having to cancel and postpone shows has involved a huge amount of work ; both from an administrative point of view , insurance claims and dealing with customer service . We try to give customers as much information as we possibly can but often there is very little information available to give them .
As a business we were very fortunate to have a fairly comprehensive level of insurance cover . That has certainly enabled us to come through this year in a much better position than we otherwise would have .
The furlough scheme , and our ability to successfully apply for civil loans , has meant that we have avoided having to undertake widespread redundancies , however it has not been possible to avoid making some people redundant .
There were some positive milestones last
year . There have been huge improvements , and progress made , in terms of the way the industry works together . The pandemic has shown , and certainly accelerated , the need for our sector to have its own representative body .
UK Music did a good job for us in the early weeks of lockdown , but as an industry that employs 300,000-plus people and contributes more than £ 3 billion a year to the economy we need our own voice .
The discussions that have come about through a collection of organisations including the Concert Promoters Association , Music Venues Trust , Association of
“ Going forward , other government interventions will be needed to support the whole events industry ecosystem .”
Independent Festivals , Association of Festival Organisers , Productions Services Association , the Music Managers Forum and Featured Artists Coalition and others have been absolutely brilliant .
The running of # LetTheMusicPlay campaign was another highlight , and the decision we took in April to take on the challenge of raising funds to be able to employ our own parliamentary lobbyist has really transformed the way that we ’ ve been able to communicate and deal with government . It has undoubtedly delivered some huge successes not least of which was the scale of the Culture Recovery Fund . The extension of the VAT relief period , the increased scope of support for freelancers and self-employed has also been hugely helpful .
Going forward , other government interventions such as an extension of the furlough scheme and ultimately a government-underwritten insurance scheme will be needed to support the whole events industry ecosystem .
Several weeks ago , we were hoping to be open in the first quarter of 2021 but it is clear that isn ’ t going to happen . We can now see that we will almost certainly well into quarter two before we see full-capacity shows operational again .
The combination of the vaccines and widespread mass testing are the two keys to getting our sector up and running again . As to when and how it is just still too early to say . I think on an optimistic basis we will hopefully see ourselves up and running just after Easter , on a pessimistic basis it could be as late as September October .
Kilimanjaro Live CEO and Concert Promoters Association vice chairman Stuart Galbraith
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