Around 400,000 jobs have been lost in the events industry during the coronavirus crisis, an industry group told Sky News on Wednesday.
According to the report, the pandemic had caused 400,000 people to be laid off, most of whom were skilled professionals. These jobs may never return.
Peter Heath, managing director of the Performance Lighting and Sound Association (PLASA), also said that Brexit red tape had exacerbated the challenges facing the industry as it tries to get back on its feet.
Heath told Sky News that “we’re now in the perfect storm for our industry to really hit an all-time low. In fact, devastation.”
The comments come after the Glastonbury 2021 festival was cancelled.
Heath called for a government-led insurance scheme to support the events sector in the absence of a date for a return to business as usual.
“If we’re looking at vaccine roll-out, we’re looking at rapid testing programmes and people complying, that’s going to help our sector return,” he added.
“The reality is that if the government were able to talk to us sensibly about some kind of insurance that would help secure events – not just live events outside but events generally.”
