21/10/2020
It’s been a tough year for lots of people and it’s certainly no exception at Skiddle. The Covid-19 pandemic has decimated the industry and not only brought our income (which is 98% ticket sales) to a complete halt, but in fact reversed as we have refunded many millions of pounds back to our fantastic customers. We are currently operating at a maximum of 15% of our usual income.
At present, there are no clear signs of a recovery for the industry. We absolutely enthuse at people’s risk in organising normal events for 2021 and it’s amazing to see customers support these events with advanced purchases. Across the country, there is a smattering of socially distanced events taking place which are keeping the music alive but we are still a long way from normal. Unfortunately, we have had to lose around 20 fantastic members of staff, we have closed 1 of our offices. We’ve tried to laugh, we’ve definitely cried, we are tired and a little bit broken.
Yet we are still here. More importantly, the majority of the industry still is as well. Sadly we are aware of some casualties, many financial ones but unfortunately some physical ones as well, with the news that some of the people we work with have been unable to face the challenge ahead and taken their own lives as the only answer. We are very, very sorry to hear this.
When the Cultural Recovery Fund was announced, Skiddle took the decision not to apply, as we frankly did not fit the criteria as a cultural venue or host live events. We felt, and STILL feel that the money was best distributed to the many thousands of amazing venues, promoters, and arts organisations across the country that frankly, without you - Skiddle would be nothing.
Imagine our sheer disgust then when the lists are published of who received grants, and amongst the many great people that received money, we see companies like Resident Advisor (a website that writes music reviews of events across the world) receiving VAST sums of money - whilst at the same time some of the best venues and event creators in the country/the world were not successful as they “Didn’t fit the bill”.
Read the full open letter ❤️ 👉 https://bit.ly/31s0Pby
Yours, Richard Dyer, Ben Sebborn, and the entire team at Skiddle Ltd.
Thank You for Your Support.
