Customs House axes more than half its staff
THE Customs House is the latest local theatre to announce redundancies due to the pandemic, with 27 staff set to lose their jobs and just 18 left in place.
The South Shields theatre and arts centre has already served nine full-time and 18 part-time employees with their notice in what it calls an “incredibly difficult” decision.
Just recently The Customs House had announced the cancellation of its pantomine, fearing that the cost of staging the show, Rapunzel, could leave it in peril at such a cash-strapped time.
The theatre, a charity, says that it is able to retain just 18 of its staff in the wake of the pandemic.
Its executive director Ray Spencer said: “It is an incredibly difficult decision to have so many staff leave The Customs House.
“We have tried hard to trade but the current social distancing guidelines which reduce our opportunities to earn income, which represents 92% of our turnover; our lack of reserves, together with the constant threat of local lockdown and-or a second wave, makes it impossible for the trust to support our current level of staff beyond the end of furlough.”
He added: “We sincerely wish our colleagues well in these incredibly difficult times.”
The venue in Mill Dam reopened from lockdown last month – with audience capacity cut from 439 to 102 or 172 depending on bubble allocations – but five months of lockdown have taken a huge toll.
And the situation, as with other theatres, continues.
The Custom House’s cinema also now has a vastly reduced capacity, cut from 140 people to a maximum of 42, and the restaurant can cater for 42 diners at most, rather than the usual 70.
The theatre hosted its first return performance on August 28 with a free Thank You Variety Show held for NHS and key workers and it has since seen smaller audiences turn out for last week’s Arbuthnot Goes Back to School and Jason Cook’s Comedy Club.
While it has a small number of other events planned before the end of the year, which still will go ahead, Mr Spencer added: “The whole sector continues to suffer.
“Our survey of 1,400 regular users clearly showed that until a vaccine is found audiences will be hesitant to return to the cinema and theatre in pre-Covid numbers and it will be a long road to recovery.”
The theatre’s job losses follow the announcement of Newcastle theatre redundancies, with the Theatre Royal the first to reveal cuts.
Then just days ago Northern Stage, which has 45 permanent staff and 34 casual, said that job losses are necessary to ensure its long-term future and it has entered into redundancy consultations, with 10-12 staff expected to go due to “significant loss of income” due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
The theatre says it is managing to retain 75% of its permanent workforce.
The Customs House’s news came on the same day that The Playhouse in Whitley Bay announced the cancellation of its pantomime – always the big money spinner of the year for theatres – due to the pandemic; following in the footsteps of the likes of the South Shields theatre and the Theatre Royal.