Half of Hippodrome jobs are put ‘at risk’

MORE than 60 staff at Birmingham Hippodrome have been told they are facing redundancy in a bid to save the historic theatre.

It is already closed until November 2, the period covered by the Government’s furlough scheme.

But the Hippodrome’s artistic director and chief executive, Fiona Allan, revealed that 62 members of staff had been informed they were now “at risk of redundancy” from the end of August because of the Covid19 pandemic.

“Heartbreaking is the word,” said Fiona, of the planned redundancies.

“It’s heartbreaking for Birmingham and for the community and we are just one of dozens of theatres that are going to be doing this.

“This catastrophe is going to catapult us into a different world for the next few years.

“We went from high to high last year during our 120th anniversary. “With no income and a £5 million annual salary bill, we need to cut our overheads.

“I’ve been really humbled by the staff because so many are more concerned for the theatre than themselves.

“So many are part of the family they’ve asked if they can have their job held for when they can come back.

“The theatre is more important than any of us and has survived so many things in the past.

“But when the next book is written for its 150th anniversary, we want to be able to say we helped to save it. “I am the person minding it for this period of time and it’s my job to make sure it doesn’t close for good under my watch.”

Ms Allan, who joined the Hippodrome in 2015, is also president of UK Theatre.

“We can’t say this situation is unfair more than any other industry,” she said.

“But 70 per cent of theatres will be out of cash by Christmas and I do worry in the national context what is going to happen.

“The union BECTU is being great, really supportive and is working really hard to get the Government to come up with some answers.”

Mick Corfield, the Midlands’ negotiating officer for BECTU a Sector of Prospect, said: “These redundancies at the region’s biggest theatre illustrate just what a devastating time it is around the country for the industry.

“The fear is that if the Midlands’ biggest theatre has to do this, then there will be a domino effect at theatres everywhere – Leicester Haymarket has already closed.

“There are 270,000 jobs in this industry nationwide and it generates a lot of revenue and pays a lot of taxes.

“The Government needs to treat it as a special case because if you don’t have people going through your doors, how can you make any money? We are trying to highlight how precious the situation is. Theatres need to be 60 to 70 per cent full just to break even.

“Then it needs to give confidence to customers to go back in, especially families with older people.

“We are lobbying government to try to make theatre a special case – companies had until Wednesday to

When the next book is written for its 150th anniversary, we want to be able to save we helped to save it

Fiona Allan, right

decide who they are going to furlough.”

The Hippodrome employs around 130 permanent staff and many more on a casual basis.

It is the permanent jobs in catering, box office, front of house, stage and reception that are currently all “at risk of redundancy”.

The Birmingham Post understands other employees are being offered the chance to be retained until March if they accept one day’s pay per week.

That would come with the freedom to work somewhere else in the meantime though they would lose their redundancy entitlement if they left before their job was returned to a full-time role.

The last time the theatre was closed for an extended period was in 2000 during its £35 million rebuild before re-opening on November 11, 2001.