Sunak’s announces £30m boost for theatres and museums to buffer Omicron cancellations
Rishi Sunak has announced this afternoon that there will be £1bn in support for businesses most impacted by Omicron across the UK, including £30m further funding through the Culture Recovery Fund to help support theatres and museums.
The government will be allowing more cultural organisations in England to apply for support during the winter, and the figure will build on nearly £240m of cultural grant support already allocated this financial year or currently available for organisations to bid for.
Over the course of the pandemic the UK Government has provided nearly £2bn to support our vital cultural sector, with the original £1.57bn round of the Culture Recovery Fund announced in July 2020.
Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said: “With the surge in Omicron cases, people are rightly exercising more caution as they go about their lives, which is impacting our hospitality, leisure and cultural sectors at what is typically the busiest time of the year.”
Matthew Sims, founder of the #BusinessBooster campaign, was disappointed with this afternoon’s announcement: “This isn’t the bailout businesses across the UK need and been waiting for since Plan B was announced over two weeks ago. A £1bn package of support sounds impressive, but is a headline that distracts from the reality that these are token measures and does not reflect the reality that hospitality businesses are facing.”
The #BusinessBooster campaign gathered over 100 destinations across the UK and 100,000 retail, hospitality and leisure businesses to write a letter to the Prime Minister calling for urgent assurances that financial support will be provided to these sectors who are hitting rock bottom following Plan B measures, worsening consumer confidence and mass cancellations and confusion in messaging to the British public.
“A £6,000 grant in no way compensates for the dramatic loss in trading hospitality businesses in particular are facing, and more importantly they can’t wait weeks for financial aid.”
“With speculation mounting of further restrictions, we need the Government to provide assurance that any announcement is accompanied with a revised raft of financial support and measures to ensure hospitality, retail and leisure businesses get the support they need to mitigate closure and redundancies.”
A British Museum spokesperson said: “We welcome and value this additional support for the culture sector as we navigate the challenges presented by the ongoing pandemic.”
Rishi Sunak has announced this afternoon that there will be £1bn in support for businesses most impacted by Omicron across the UK, including £30m further funding through the Culture Recovery Fund to help support theatres and museums.
The government will be allowing more cultural organisations in England to apply for support during the winter, and the figure will build on nearly £240m of cultural grant support already allocated this financial year or currently available for organisations to bid for.
Over the course of the pandemic the UK Government has provided nearly £2bn to support our vital cultural sector, with the original £1.57bn round of the Culture Recovery Fund announced in July 2020.
Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said: “With the surge in Omicron cases, people are rightly exercising more caution as they go about their lives, which is impacting our hospitality, leisure and cultural sectors at what is typically the busiest time of the year.”
Matthew Sims, founder of the #BusinessBooster campaign, was disappointed with this afternoon’s announcement: “This isn’t the bailout businesses across the UK need and been waiting for since Plan B was announced over two weeks ago. A £1bn package of support sounds impressive, but is a headline that distracts from the reality that these are token measures and does not reflect the reality that hospitality businesses are facing.”
The #BusinessBooster campaign gathered over 100 destinations across the UK and 100,000 retail, hospitality and leisure businesses to write a letter to the Prime Minister calling for urgent assurances that financial support will be provided to these sectors who are hitting rock bottom following Plan B measures, worsening consumer confidence and mass cancellations and confusion in messaging to the British public.
“A £6,000 grant in no way compensates for the dramatic loss in trading hospitality businesses in particular are facing, and more importantly they can’t wait weeks for financial aid.”
“With speculation mounting of further restrictions, we need the Government to provide assurance that any announcement is accompanied with a revised raft of financial support and measures to ensure hospitality, retail and leisure businesses get the support they need to mitigate closure and redundancies.”
A British Museum spokesperson said: “We welcome and value this additional support for the culture sector as we navigate the challenges presented by the ongoing pandemic.”