The failure to fully re-open wedding venues on 21st June would cost the economy over £650million every 2 weeks, according to the Country Land and Business Association (CLA).
While other businesses in the hospitality and entertainment sector have been able to adapt and re-open in May, weddings are still limited to 30 people. For most venues, this is not enough to be profitable.
Speculation that Step 4 of the Covid roadmap for England might be pushed back by 2-4 weeks is plunging the industry into yet another vortex of uncertainty. Venues have already taken on significant debt to survive this far and will make further losses if they have to operate the crucial summer season with limited numbers.
In a normal season, the wedding sector generates £1.2billion per month. But as a celebration that brings people together, weddings have been disproportionately hit during the pandemic.
The financial loss in 2020 alone was £7billion, according to the UK Weddings Taskforce. That figure continues to climb, with around 320,000 weddings postponed or cancelled since March 2020. This is a huge setback for an industry that generated £14.7billionn to the UK economy in 2019 and employs more than 400,000 people.
Early government measures, such as the business rates freeze, proved a vital lifeline for many businesses. But as the restrictions continue, support has been inadequate. The number of guests may be capped, but operational costs remain the same.
CLA South East represents thousands of farmers, landowners and rural businesses in Kent, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and the Isle of Wight.
Regional Director Michael Valenzia said:
“Keeping the current restrictions on weddings past 21 June flies in the face of the progress made with vaccination and testing. Thousands of rural jobs are on the line, most of them in small businesses.
“The government’s next steps need to be based on individual venues’ risk assessment and protocols. It is not right that weddings should be treated differently to sporting events, cinemas, or hospitality venues.
“If the restrictions were to continue, some short-term measures must be implemented immediately. These include prioritising wedding businesses for local authority grants and freezing business rates until March 2022.”
Peoples safety is more important than your greed.
I run a business connected to weddings , i can definitely say delay the date of full opening
we do not want people from all over the U.K congregating in one place.