Events industry seeks ray of hope

Sector in plea for support amid extended shutdown

The prolonged shutdown of Scotland’s events industry is threatening scores of jobs across Tayside and Fife.

The Scottish Government recently announced a £10 million shot-in-thearm for the sector, aimed at supporting live music venues and businesses facing an uncertain future.

However, companies that rely on a busy year-round calendar of concerts and shows say much more support is needed, with lockdown effectively banning them from working.

Bosses at Perthshire-based Catalyst, the firm behind the spectacular opening ceremony at last year’s Solheim Cup, say the business may not survive much longer without extra assistance.

Managing director Graeme Craig said the continuing closure of the events sector places a question mark over his 36-strong workforce (all but three are on furlough). The firm also supports about 30 freelance staff.

“This should have been a bumper year for us, we were looking forward to a really busy 2020,” he said.

“But now, if we can survive the year, that will be enough for us.”

Bridge of Earn-based Catalyst, which has hosted shows for, among others, fashion and fragrances giant Dior and the Scottish Rugby Union, lost about £1.5 million through cancellations in the last week of March.

“This was the first industry to be hit by coronavirus and we will be the last one to get back out,” said Mr Craig.

“It is still illegal to run events for 30 or more people, so there is nothing we can do to generate money.

“Until events are deemed safe by the government, we’re left in limbo.

“And on top of that, a lot of our corporate customers say it doesn’t matter what governments advise, they’ve already decided they won’t be doing any events for the rest of 2020.”

The plea for support comes after Perth and Kinross Council cancelled its Christmas Lights party and the rest of its four-month Winter Festival.

Local authority officers said although rules could be relaxed in phase four of the government’s route out of lockdown, they don’t want to invest time, money and precious resources into an event that could be cancelled at the last minute.

Mr Craig, whose company worked with Underbelly on Edinburgh’s Hogmanay show, said: “There is no date yet for phase four and every time there’s a situation like what happened in Aberdeen, it simply resets the clock for us.

“We, as a company, don’t want to start crying and begging for help, but the truth is that we can’t fix this by ourselves.”

The combined events and arts industry, including TV and film, delivers about £6 billion to the Scottish economy each year.

Catalyst was formed in 2003 and has an annual turnover of about £4.1m.

Staff range from warehouse operatives to project managers, as well as designers, logistic teams and health and safety officers.

The Scottish Government’s £10m package was announced at the end of July.

A spokesman said: “We understand this is a deeply difficult time for those in the events industry.

“We don’t want the restrictions in place for any longer than is needed, but in order to continue to suppress Covid19 the advice remains that most live events cannot take place at present.”