Sacha Lord, Night Time Economy Adviser for Greater Manchester and CoFounder, Parklife Festival, reacts to today’s Budget:


“I am very pleased with the Chancellor’s announcements today which will go a huge way to helping operators get back on their feet.

The night time and hospitality sectors have been crying out for support, and today we can breathe a sigh of relief that we have been acknowledged.

The surprise extension to furlough to September is a welcome move, acknowledging that for the majority of operators, recovery will be a slow and steady process. This extension will allow businesses to feel more financially settled before having to bring all staff back or being forced into making redundancies, and I know this measure will save hundreds of thousands of jobs across the sector.

The business rate and hospitality VAT cuts will be a lifeline to many. We have lost a huge number of venues in the past 12 months, but with these measures in place we can now look forward and support those who have desperately hung on. There will be many business owners waking up tomorrow with renewed hope for the future of their business and their employees.

Alongside the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, I have continually called for support for the three million freelancers and self employed workers who have been excluded from any financial aid. Many of these self employed freelancers work within the night time economy and its been an injustice to watch them struggle over the past twelve with no support or recognition. Today, over 600,000 have been helped which is a good start, but there is clearly still more to be done and I hope to see further support announced for this group in due course.

Lastly, as an events organiser myself, I am concerned that the Government has still not backed a COVID indemnity insurance policy for events organisers. We have already lost the likes of Glastonbury this year, and there are hundreds of smaller events which have been cancelled due to a lack of support and policies available. However, having been involved in many APPGs on the subject, I know it is a matter Westminster and the Treasury are looking into and I will continue to push the Government on driving this through.”

UKHospitality Chief Executive Kate Nicholls said:

“The Chancellor has listened to the concerns of the hospitality sector. Details are yet to be pored over but it looks like crucial support will help businesses at a critical time.

“The Chancellor has announced support to help our sector get back up and running, now it is vital that the Government sticks to its date of June 21st for a full reopening of the sector. Delay would see more businesses fail, more jobs lost and undo much of the good work the Chancellor has done to date.”

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