Westminster Abbey to cut a fifth of workforce as it loses ‘shattering’ £12m

CORONAVIRUS has dealt a “shattering blow” to Westminster Abbey’s finances with a £12million loss in revenue income reported for the church this year.

An estimated 20 per cent of its staff are also set to be made redundant.

The Abbey closed its doors three days before Boris Johnson announced the lockdown on March 23 and has only readmitted limited tourist visits since July 11. Over 90 per cent of the Abbey’s income is drawn from visitors paying an entrance free.

The church is also set to lose a “breathtaking” £9 million to £12 million next year, officials have warned.

The Very Rev Dr David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster, told the BBC: “We are vulnerable and we are getting more vulnerable.

“We’re negotiating one of the greatest challenges to hit the Abbey in recent times.” Dr Hoyle said it was “inconceivable” that the Abbey would be so quiet, as in a “normal” month of July, it would be admitting 1,000 people an hour.

Visitor numbers are not expected to resume pre-pandemic levels for five years.

Although the Abbey is open for services and visits, numbers are reduced and social distancing is being enforced.

Regular Sunday services at St Margaret’s, a medieval church in Parliament Square, are also set to be scrapped along with its professional choir. Worshippers will merge with the congregation in the Abbey.

Other ecclesiastical institutions have suffered similar financial losses with the Church of England’s 42 cathedrals predicting a downturn of more than £28.4 million on what they thought their budgets would be this year.

They are projected to lose another £15.5 million next year. Due to its status as a Royal Peculiar, Westminster Abbey does not count as one of the Church of England’s 42 cathedrals. Instead it is owned directly by the monarch, meaning it is not eligible for funding by the Church Commissioners.

The Association of English Cathedrals, which represents Westminster Abbey and the 42 cathedrals, had warned job cuts would affect churches around the country.