Forecasting a “best-case-scenario” loss of £5.1m in revenue this financial year, the Southbank Centre could potentially remain out of action until April 2021 following its Coronavirus-led closure on March 17th. The prestigious centre of music and arts, showcasing the world’s leading orchestras and performers, is reportedly planning to cancel all events from September to November 2020. Having called for further government support, Southbank Centre chief executive Elaine Bedell has said in a statement, reported by BBC News, “We’re doing all we can to safeguard the Southbank Centre we currently know and love for the years ahead.”
Forecast losses to be incurred by the Centre, due to the cancellation of so many events, are to be so extensive as to consume all of the venue’s reserve finances, as well as the £4m allotted to the Southbank Centre via the government’s furlough scheme. Bedell elaborated to say that the £19.2m annual grant, courtesy of Arts Council England, has already been exhausted “to effectively mothball the buildings.”
A full statement outlining the reasons behind the potential closure of the Southbank Centre until next April was released today (May 25th) on the official @southbankcentre Twitter account. Opening with the assurance that “we know we are not alone in this,” the Centre stands “with our friends, partners and colleagues – both here in the UK and abroad – during this time of unprecedented challenge.”
A statement on today's announcement from Elaine Bedell, and the full story online: https://t.co/Umo6P5k4l8 pic.twitter.com/UH4WvAVmsn
— Southbank Centre (@southbankcentre) May 25, 2020
According to the above cited BBC News report, the venue is currently assessing the possibility of broadcasting concerts without live audiences through autumn of this year and spring 2021. An enormous, and enormously complex, campus of buildings and arenas, the Southbank Centre is comprised of the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Purcell Room and the Hayward Gallery – as well as eight separate orchestras – presenting in excess of 3,500 events per year.
In her statement, Ms. Bedell reflects on the important postwar history of the venue as “a focal point of social and economic recovery,” following years of international conflict. She hopes to “emerge from this crisis to an even brighter future, throwing our doors wide open once more” in the months ahead.
